Mirror Image
by hasapi
Summary: [COMPLETE] Future AU fic. R&T, R&J. Pregnant in senior year, Rory had to give up everything to raise her child ... including its father. Now, twelve years later, Rory gets a second chance at true love.
1. The Diner

**A/N: This is my second "Gilmore Girls" fic, though the first was actually a songfic, so in my opinion, it doesn't count. This is going to be a long one, and probably a little confusing, but bear with me.**

**To Literati (R/J) Fans: PLEASE do not be turned off. Even if Rory and Tristan do get together, I promise I will make a spin-off type thing where Rory and Jess get together, but you have to read this fic for it to make sense.**

**Rating: PG-13 **

**Pairing: R/T, R/J**

**Disclaimer: I do not own "Gilmore Girls." That is owned by Amy Sherman-Palladino and the WB. I do, however, own most of this storyline (some was taken from previous episodes), so steal that and I will haunt you for the rest of your life. **

On with the story.

****************

"Please?"

"No."

"Oh, come on. One cup of coffee."

"It'll kill you."

"At least I'll die happy."

"You sound like Lorelai."

"And you sound like Luke," Rory Gilmore laughed. 

Jess Mariano sighed. She never gave up. And he always gave in. He wasn't in the mood for verbal sparring, though, so he picked up the coffeepot and poured Rory a cup.

"Yay! Coffee," she said, downing half the cup in one gulp, "is a life-force, and as you are the supplier of that life-force, you are a god."

Jess laughed. She never failed to do that. Make him laugh. She was the only one who could.

"Mommy!" A twelve-year-old girl bounded into the diner and collapsed in a chair next to her mother. "You won't believe what I just saw!"

"Was it Taylor giving someone mouth-to-mouth resuscitation?" Rory replied, smiling at her daugher's antics.

"Eww. Mom," the girl groaned. "No, it wasn't. Mr. Legano was proposing to Miss Patty!"

"You're kidding," Rory deadpanned.

Jess paused in wiping the counter and listened to Rory's daughter.

"No, I'm not. And," she paused for emphasis. "I think Miss Patty said yes!"

"She's going to tie herself down to one man?"

"I guess so. She was putting the ring on, and Mr. Legano hugged her and then," the girl paused, wrinkling her nose, "he kissed her."

Rory laughed, "It's about time."

Yes, Jess thought. It was. It was about time a lot of people thought about getting married. Rory was thirty years old, with a twelve-year-old little girl, but she hadn't gone on a date in … what had it been? Eleven years since he had last seen … him. The father of Rory's child. Tristan DuGrey.


	2. Remembering

**A/N: I am amazed at the overwhelming response I received for this fic. Thanks, guys! I am not giving any promises on the prevailing pair (either R/J or R/T), because that would ruin all the suspense and everything. However, when I can tell you (or warn you, if it's not what you want, since the two competing pairs are popular ones), I will.**

**Rating: PG-13 **

**Pairing: R/T, R/J**

**Disclaimer: I do not own "Gilmore Girls." That is owned by Amy Sherman-Palladino and the WB. I do, however, own most of_ this storyline (some was taken from previous episodes), so steal that and I will haunt you for the rest of your life. _**

****************

Tristan DuGrey walked through the streets of the small town. It had been eleven years since he'd been there. Eleven years since he had regretted leaving the love of his life – and their then-one-year-old child. But at the time he had defended himself by saying that she didn't want him. But after eleven years … he realized that he should have been there, if not for Rory, then for their daughter. 

Two weeks ago, lying in bed after a particularly rough day at work, he had realized he knew nothing about his daughter other than her name. Lorelai Gilmore the fourth. Lorelai Patricia Gilmore, Tricia for short. Lorelai after her mother, Patricia after his. He thought back to when he had first found out she was pregnant. It had been the last day of school…

_Tristan__ was standing by his locker, packing everything up. Finally! No more school. No more boring classes, assemblies, no more nothing. He looked up from his thoughts when he heard footsteps coming closer to him. He smiled, looking at his girlfriend of more than one year. Rory Gilmore. Junior year, she had broken up with Bagboy – finally – and when he had found out, he'd asked her to dinner. They'd gone, and had fun, and she'd invited him to a movie night with her and her mother. He almost laughed, thinking of that night. He'd been threatened with bodily harm, not only by Lorelai, Rory's mother, but also by Luke, the owner of Luke's Diner, and quite a few other people when they'd realized that he was probably Rory's next boyfriend._

_"Tristan?"__ Rory said, hesitantly. He narrowed his eyes. She was nervous. Really nervous. _

_"Yeah?__ What is it?"_

_"We need to talk…" She grabbed his arm and walked him into a supply closet, where she took a deep breath. Her eyes filled with tears, and Tristan pulled her to him, holding her close to his body. Rory sighed._

_"What is it, babe?"_

_Rory's eyes filled with tears again. "It's that. It's babe. I'm … I'm …" She started to cry, and held onto his shirt, shaking. She took a deep breath, "I'm pregnant."_

_He froze. How? How?? "What? You're … pregnant?"_

_"Yes," she said forcefully. "__I.__ Am. Pregnant.__ And don't you dare ask whether it's yours or not."_

_"But … we used protection."_

_"I know," she sobbed._

_"Does your mother know?"_

_"Yes. I told her. I had to, since she wouldn't let me use the car, and NO WAY was I going to buy a pregnancy test at Doose's. It would've been all over town by __midnight__ that Rory Gilmore was sexually active. So I took a home pregnancy test, then we went to the doctor, since it's only 95% accurate, and I wanted to be positive. And that's what it was. Postive." She started to cry again, "I'm so sorry, Tristan."_

_"But … we only … one time …"_

_"I know." _

_They were both thinking back to prom night, the night they had, unequivocally, given themselves to each other for the first time. But they hadn't repeated the experience. Only one time. But once was apparently all it took._

They had stayed in the closet for another half hour, just holding each other, before Tristan finished packing up his things. He helped Rory to his car and they drove to her house, where he left her with her mother, and he had driven back to Hartford. He'd spent a restless night before going down to talk with his father in the morning. Then, he had driven back to Stars Hollow …

_She was in Luke's Diner. He pulled the car to a stop outside, and got out, trying to calm his racing heart. He put a hand in his pocket, to make sure the small box was still there. He walked in the door, the bell jingling above his head. Looking around, he realized that there were a lot of people shooting daggers at him. Jess was working behind the counter, talking to Rory, who was seated there. _

_"I really don't think that –"_

_Jess cut her off. "Oh, please. You know very well that's not what he meant when he was writing it. You can't take what he says at literal value, and –"_

_"Rory," Tristan paused as she spun to look at him. She looked surprised to see him standing there. "We need to talk."_

_"I don't think she wants to talk to you," Jess said threateningly._

_"How about you let her decide for herself?" Tristan shot back._

_"Jess," Rory sighed. "It's okay. We do need to talk." She stood up. "Where are we going?"_

_"Mantonelli's."___

_"Oh," she paused. They had gone there for their one-year anniversary. She smiled at the memories, then followed Tristan out of the diner. The car ride was quiet, neither knowing quite what to say. When they reached the restaurant, Tristan jumped out of the car and opened the passenger's door for Rory. She got out and smiled at him. _

_"Come on, Rory. The reservation is for __two o'clock__." It was five till. They walked inside, sat down. Ordered. Ate. But they didn't talk until they were done eating. _

_"Anything for dessert?"__ The waitress asked politely._

_"Not for me. Rory?"_

_"No, I'm fine." The waitress left the couple and promised to be back in a few minutes with the check. "Tristan, why did you ask me here? We haven't talked …"_

_"Because I was waiting for the right time.__ Rory, I love you. I've never said it, but I like to think you knew. If you didn't, I'm sorry. But I love you. And I don't want you to have to face this alone." He stood up, then knelt down on one knee, and, pulling out the box he had fiddled with countless times in the last hour, he said with quit conviction, "Lorelai Leigh Gilmore, will you become my wife and spend the rest of your days with me?"_

_By this time, Rory's eyes had filled with tears. Now they spilled over onto her cheeks. As much as she loved him… "Tristan," she began, taking his hand and closing the box. She looked down at his hand as she continued, "I love you. But even so, I can't marry you. I'll forever wonder if you asked me just because I'm pregnant with your child. I love you so much, but if I can't be sure … I'll never be truly happy."_

She had left it at that. He had tried to talk her into it, but she hadn't relented, no matter how hard he pushed. She was convinced, and the stubbornness she had been born with won over following her heart. 

Tristan walked towards Luke's Diner. He was positive she would be there. It was eight in the morning, and, as he had learned, Rory would most likely be in the diner at this point. Drinking coffee. Or, more likely, begging some from Luke. He smiled, wondering what would happen when she saw him. If she would even care. If she still loved him. If she would agree to letting him into Tricia's life. 

If she would let him into hers. 


	3. Through the Haze

**A/N: I changed Lorelai Patricia's nickname from Lori to Tricia, because I thought that Lori was unoriginal, plus, too much like Lor, which Lorelai the Second is sometimes called. I'll change it in Chapter 2, but just in case it doesn't work, I'm mentioning it now. **

There will be a lot of flashbacks, so that you will understand where all of this is coming from, and maybe where it's going. Sorry this one's short again.

**Rating: PG-13 **

**Pairing: R/T, R/J**

**Disclaimer: I do not own "Gilmore Girls." That is owned by Amy Sherman-Palladino and the WB. I do, however, own most of this storyline (some was taken from previous episodes), so steal that and I will haunt you for the rest of your life. **

****************

Rory Gilmore sipped her coffee as she watched her daughter eating her pancakes. Tricia was such an adorable child. She had inherited her father's blond hair and blue eyes, and it complemented her to perfection. Tristan had been wonderful, even after she'd said she couldn't marry him, the first time he'd asked. He'd even been there for Tricia's birth. He'd held her hand the whole time, and hadn't complained when she almost broke two of his fingers. Rory smiled, remembering.

_Tristan__ was holding her hand. That was the only thing that was clear through the haze of drugs. She wished she'd said no to them. She still felt some pain, and at least if she had said no, then she would have been able to remember when the doctor held up the screaming infant, fresh from her womb. That had been the only time Tristan had let go of her hand, when he picked up the baby after the doctor wiped it clean. He held it close to him, looking down at the little child. Rory watched them until Tristan looked up. His smile was brilliant, and she knew then that she loved him with all of her heart, more than she'd thought she did. _

_He walked back over to her, and held the little baby near her, so she could see it. "It's a girl," Tristan said, his eyes filling with tears. "We have a baby girl."_

_"Yeah, we do." After one more glance at Tristan and the baby, she drifted off._

_~~~~_

_When she next woke, it was morning. Tristan was sitting in the chair by the bed. He had dozed off. _

_"Mmph," she groaned. Her throat was dry. Tristan jolted awake. He handed her a glass of water that she drank gratefully. "Tristan…"_

_"Yeah?"___

_"Where's the baby?"_

_"In the nursery."___

_"I want her here with me."_

_"Alright, just a minute."__ Tristan left to get the child. Their child. Rory smiled. Even though she'd had to give up her dreams of Ivy-league… she didn't regret it. No, not at all. And it wasn't so bad, going to community college. She hadn't taken any classes this semester, the spring one. But she'd start back up in the fall, after the baby was older and she wouldn't feel as bad leaving it with her mother or a sitter._

_Tristan__ walked back in with their child. "What're we going to name her?"_

_"Well, she's definitely a Lorelai," Rory smiled._

_"Yeah, well, that's a given. What about a middle name?"_

_"What's your mother's name?"_

_"Patricia Ann."_

_"Well, then. Say hello to Lorelai Patricia Gilmore," she said, taking her child in her arms._

"Mom?" Tricia's voice jolted Rory out of her thoughts.

"Yeah, honey?" She smiled at her daughter's frown.

"Mom, there's a man out there, staring at us."

Rory frowned, looking outside. Blonde hair. Those eyes … She knew them. She'd dreamed about them countless times, had woken up so many times, wishing he was there. There he was. The man of her dreams. Her thoughts. Her heart.

Tristan DuGrey.


	4. Warnings

**A/N: Once again, I am amazed at the response this fic has received. Seeing as how if I don't restrain myself, I will post a chapter every hour (which, while good for you, will eventually hurt me with severe sleep loss), I am going to tell you this. There will be a new chapter up every other day by 10:00 pm Eastern time. So the next update will be tomorrow, Monday. Then Wednesday (the 4th), Friday (the 6th), Sunday (8th), Tuesday (10th), Thursday (12th), etc., etc. Just so you know when to expect it. If I miss the due date, then you will have TWO chapters by the next day. Hope that makes sense. **

Oh, and, just so you know, no matter which couple triumphs, both Tristan and Jess will have pretty big parts in this story.

**Rating: PG-13 **

**Pairing: R/T, R/J**

**Disclaimer: I do not own "Gilmore Girls." That is owned by Amy Sherman-Palladino and the WB. I do, however, own most of this storyline (some was taken from previous episodes), so steal that and I will haunt you for the rest of your life. **

****************

Jess looked up when he heard the cup crash to the floor. He jumped out from behind the counter and ran up to Rory, who was staring at something out the window. He started picking up the shards of glass that were littering the floor.

"Rory? Rory, what's the matter?"

She turned to look at him. Her expression was confused, but at the same time joyous. His heart clenched when he looked past her and saw Tristan DuGrey across the street. Him. Jess thought back to the last time he had seen him…

_Tristan was wiping something off his daughter's face. Probably icing from the cake she was eating. Or at least trying to eat. Jess sighed as he looked at Rory. Her expression was happy; she was happy. With Tristan and her daughter. She was happy with them. He wished he'd asked her out before Tristan had. _

_She and Dean had broken up after the little episode when Lorelai had been out of town, at a spa with her mother, Rory's grandmother. Jess had gone over with some food, knowing she'd be hungry. A friend of hers – Paris? – was there, as well, much to his dismay. But luckily, they'd all gotten into a stimulating discussion about books. The time had passed quickly, and Rory had gotten a call from Dean. He was coming over. She'd tried to get him out in time, but they'd run into Dean as soon as they'd gotten to the porch. They'd almost had a fight. She'd broken it up, then broke up with Dean the next day, before school. _

_He'd thought, then, that maybe he had a chance. Maybe she'd broken up with Dean because she had feelings for him, Jess, "The nice young hoodlum in the back." But the next time he'd seen her after the break-up, she and Tristan were laughing. He put his arm around her shoulders. And Jess knew that he'd lost. _

_He shook himself back to the present. Rory was laughing at something Tristan had said. She was smiling, he was smiling, Tricia was smiling. They were all smiling. Lorelai walked over and picked Tricia up, saying something Jess couldn't quite make out, then walked away with the little girl in her arms. Tristan scooted his chair closer to Rory's and kissed her, smiling. He whispered something in her ear, and stood up. Rory followed. They walked to the porch of Lorelai, Rory, and Tricia's house. The Gilmore Residence. _

_"Hello, and thank you for coming," Tristan began. "As you all know, this is our daughter's first birthday party, and I wanted to say something to her mother."_

_Rory furrowed her brow, and looked questioningly at Tristan. Jess sighed again. She looked so adorable when she did that. He was a love-sick fool, and he knew it. _

_"Lorelai Leigh Gilmore, I love you. You are the light of my life, and I don't know what I'd ever do without you. I'm going to ask you something I've asked you only once before, and this time I hope you'll give me a different answer." Rory was beginning to look panicked. "Rory, will you become my wife, and let me spend the rest of my life devoting myself to you?"_

_Jess almost stopped breathing. He looked quickly at Rory, and was delighted (though he immediately cursed himself for being so) to see that she didn't seem to have the slightest inclination to say yes. Her eyes had filled with tears, and she ran off the porch, towards the lake. And the bridge. Tristan followed._

_Talk immediately broke out among the guests. Everyone had a different theory. Rory was pregnant again. Tristan's parents were threatening to disown him if he didn't marry the girl he'd gotten pregnant. The stories were all over the place. Jess ignored them, hoping Rory would come back. _

_Tristan came back, about five minutes later. He walked over to Lorelai and took Tricia in his arms, smiling at her and kissing her on the cheek. He stroked her hair before handing her back to Lorelai. Lorelai guessed what he was going to do and grabbed his sleeve before he could leave. She said something to him, and Tristan shook his head. He turned his back on the party, got in his car, and sped away. They hadn't seen him since._

The bell above the door sounded, and Tristan walked in the diner. A hush fell over it, and he walked over to Rory. 

"Hey," he said, a bit breathlessly.

"Hi…" Rory replied. 

Jess sighed and grabbed a broom and dustpan. Then, sweeping the rest of the mess into the latter, he walked behind the counter.

***

"Mommy?" Tricia frowned at her mother.

"Tricia … how about you go help Jess, okay?" Rory responded, still staring at Tristan out of the corner of her eye.

Tricia's eyes lit up and she bounced out of her seat, and ran behind the counter to Jess, who smiled at her before taking her into the kitchen. Tristan followed her with his eyes.

"That's our daughter?" He asked, sitting in the seat Tricia had just vacated.

"Yeah, that's her. She's twelve you know. Just last week." Rory frowned, "She was upset when she didn't get a card from you."

"That's because I decided to deliver it myself." Tristan paused. "Rory, I was sitting up in bed a few weeks ago, thinking about why I felt unfulfilled. That day at work had been particularly tiring, but I couldn't get to sleep. I kept thinking about her. And you. I want to … be a part of Tricia's life."

Rory collected her thoughts before answering. "Tristan, you can't just waltz in here and do that. She hasn't seen you since she was one year old, and I can bet she doesn't remember that. I want her to have a father figure just as much as you want to be that father figure. But if you seriously want to, then you have to let me do it my own way. Okay?"

"Whatever works for you, Rory. I want to be a part of your lives, if you'll let me."

Rory smiled, "Of course I'll let you. We just have to do this slowly, that's all." She stood up with him and hugged him tight before whispering fiercely in his ear, "But if you leave us again, no matter what the reason, trust me when I tell you there'll be hell to pay."


	5. Silence

**A/N: Here is the fifth chapter! I have three things to say.**

1) Just so you guys know, I know precisely where all of this is going, even though I'm still trying to figure out some of how to get there without alienating some of you. Therefore, everyone will have a happy ending. Which is actually good, since I love happy endings, but I'm still trying to figure out how to maneuver it so that it _is happy for all the characters. Phew! That's gonna be difficult. _

2) A note on the time thing. I will post every chapter by 10:00 p.m. Eastern time (9:00 p.m. Central), but I can put it up as early as 5:00 p.m. Eastern time (4:00 p.m. Central). 

3) I have a challenge for you guys. What does Tristan do? What is his job, where does he work, etc.? I don't know, but I'm sure you guys have some ideas. You can either put your answer in your review, or you can e-mail me: hasapi3@hotmail.com. Thanks!

**Rating: PG-13 **

**Pairing: R/T, R/J**

**Disclaimer: I do not own "Gilmore Girls." That is owned by Amy Sherman-Palladino and the WB. I do, however, own most of this storyline (some was taken from previous episodes), so steal that and I will haunt you for the rest of your life. **

****************

Rory watched Tristan leave the diner. They had decided that Tristan, Rory, and Tricia would go to the movies the next day. Tristan was staying in Hartford, with his parents. Rory was going to talk to Tricia about him tonight, so that she wouldn't have to explain it later. She only hoped that she wouldn't have to carry through with her threat. But experience with her father had told her not to take chances. Rory thought back to the second time Tristan had asked her to marry him …

_Tristan and Rory walked to the front of the house and Tristan called for attention. "Hello, and thank you for coming," he began. "As you all know, this is our daughter's first birthday party, and I wanted to say something to her mother."_

_Rory furrowed her brow. What? He hadn't said he was going to do anything other than thank everyone for coming and hope they have a nice time and all of that crap. He was still talking…_

_"Lorelai Leigh Gilmore, I love you. You are the light of my life, and I don't know what I'd ever do without you. I'm going to ask you something I've asked you only once before, and this time I hope you'll give me a different answer." Rory started to feel panicked. He wouldn't…would he? "Rory, will you become my wife, and let me spend the rest of my life devoting myself to you?"_

_Rory's eyes filled with tears and she dashed off the porch toward the lake. When she got there, she sat on the bridge. She felt Tristan come up behind her._

_"Rory?__ What is it? Why did you leave like that?"_

_Rory laughed bitterly. "You know, you might have told me you were going to do that. It would have saved you the embarrassment."_

_"But why?__ Why not?"_

_"Because … it's fine this way, don't you see? Tristan, this … thing … it reminds me too much of what happened with my parents. It has taken my mother nineteen – almost twenty – years to get over my father. And even now, I have my doubts. But I don't want that to happen to me, to us. You … remind me of my father. You're restless. You don't much like to stay in one place for a long time. I'm amazed that we've stayed together for so long, considering your past relationships. Tristan," she began, turning to face him. "I love you, you know that right? But that's why I have to let you go. I don't think that it'll work. Not only, like I mentioned before, is it too much like what happened with my parents, but, think about it. I'm only 19 years old! I don't want to get married this early in life. It would never work. We're not even finished with college yet. You're still going to __Princeton__. And I'm still going to the community college."_

_"But there are community colleges near __Princeton__. We could get an apartment, and –"_

_"No, Tristan. I'm not willing to leave this community. I want my daughter to grow up in a safe place. __New Jersey__ can't guarantee that. Stars Hollow can. The worst thing she'll have to live through is a twenty-four hour dance marathon."_

_"Fine.__ I'm leaving. Don't expect me to come back," and with that, he turned around and left._

_After about ten minutes, Rory heard approaching footsteps. "Mom…"_

_"It's not Lorelai," a male voice said._

_"Jess?"__ Rory turned around. He sat next to her and looked out at the water._

_"What happened?"_

_"We … had a fight. He wants me to marry him and move to __New Jersey__. I didn't want to. He left. He said he wouldn't be coming back." Her eyes filled with tears, threatening to spill over. "Please leave, Jess. I don't want you to see me like this."_

_But he didn't leave. Instead, he turned towards her and took her in his arms. Her tears spilled over, and Jess just held her, rocking her and whispering words of comfort in her ear. They sat like that until dusk, when Rory was finally through crying. She sat up suddenly._

_"Jess," she began._

_"Don't worry about it." She opened her mouth to say something, but Jess interrupted her. "And if you're worried they don't know where you are, I'm sure they understand that you'll want to be alone for a little while."_

_Rory smiled. "Thanks, Jess." She leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek. When she pulled back, she saw a light blush staining his cheeks. She frowned inwardly. Jess was blushing? Huh. Strange._

_They stayed at the bridge for another hour, just talking. Books, mostly. College, some. But a lot of the time was spent in a comfortable silence. _

And Tristan had kept his promise. He hadn't come back – until that day, of course. And they hadn't even heard from him, besides the child support checks he sent monthly, and birthday and Christmas cards for Tricia. He'd kept his silence with Rory for eleven years, and now he was back.


	6. Hidden Meanings

**A/N: Chapter Six! Oh, and Dontia, I've been thinking about what you said and I agree… I just wish I could, because I love happy endings.**

I wish I could post more than every other day, but I've got finals coming up, so I'd be fine keeping up with it now, but in two weeks, in the midst of finals… well, let's just say I'd be posting a lot of chapters because I'd miss the due time. Good for you, but once again, bad for me. I know I'm rambling, but I just thought I'd mention it.

**To Literati (R/J) Fans: (this is especially to Cat and Jess' Gurl) PLEASE do not stop reading. Even if Rory and Tristan do get together, I promise I will make a spin-off type thing where Rory and Jess get together, but you have to keep reading for it to make sense.**

**Rating: PG-13**

**Pairing: R/T, R/J**

**Disclaimer: I do not own "Gilmore Girls." That is owned by Amy Sherman-Palladino and the WB. I do, however, own most of this storyline (some was taken from previous episodes), so steal that and I will haunt you for the rest of your life. Trust me, I can. *smiles proudly* I learned it from Peeves. (sorry, I'm also into Harry Potter)**

****************

"We're home!" Rory yelled into the house. "There's a minor with me!" Rory had learned to make sure that Lorelai knew they were home before coming into the living room. Six years earlier, when Lorelai and Luke had started going out, she'd walked in on quite a few make-out sessions. And now that Luke was living with them… well, she definitely did not want to walk in on anything.

"Hey, honey!" Lorelai walked into the foyer. "Hello, Tricia. And how," she said, bending down, "Is my favorite 12-year-old doing?"

Tricia laughed, "I'm fine, Grandma." Rory knew her mother was probably cringing inwardly. She'd tried to get Tricia to call her Lorelai, but to no avail. Lorelai thought _Grandma sounded so old … and cold, as well. But, oh well, too late to fret now. _

"How was school?" Lorelai asked, walking them into the kitchen.

"Good. I got an A on that math test I took yesterday. We have to write a paper about the Civil War. It's due in one week, and it's supposed to be two pages long," Tricia said. "Oh! I've got to go finish my book!" She raced out of the kitchen and into her room – Rory's old room.

Lorelai sighed. "She's just like you were at that age. I guess the book-loving gene decided _not to skip a generation this time."_

"Yeah." Rory paused. "Mom, I need to talk to you about something. Upstairs."

Lorelai frowned. "Okay… you sound serious." 

"I am." She got up and walked up the stairs, Lorelai following behind her. When they reached Rory's new room – well, relatively new. She'd actually had it for about eight years, ever since they decided that Tricia could have a room of her own. Rory sat down on the full bed and took a deep breath. "Tristan's back."

***

Rory and Lorelai were seated at the table, a pot of coffee between them. Well, it _had been__ a pot of coffee. Now it was just an empty pot. Luke sat next to Lorelai. He had gotten back from Doose's a half hour earlier. _

"So." That was Luke.

"So…" Lorelai said. 

"Well, what's going to happen?" He retorted.

Rory sighed. "We're going to the movies tomorrow, like I said. What I didn't mention before was that I warned him. After I said I'd let him into our – mine and Tricia's – lives, I said 'But if you leave us again, no matter what the reason, trust me when I tell you there'll be hell to pay.'"

"Oooh." Lorelai said.

Luke looked contemplatively at Rory. "Why'd you say that?"

"Well…" Rory trailed off, looking at her mother. Lorelai's eyes flashed with understanding.

"Christopher," she said, in almost a whisper.

Luke's head jerked back to look at Lorelai. "What about him?"

"She's afraid that what happened with Christopher will happen with Tristan."

"But …" Luke trailed off.

"It took me twenty years to really get over him, and another five before I found you." She smiled sadly at Luke. "She doesn't want that to happen to her."

Rory looked at Lorelai and Luke, lost in each other's eyes. She slowly pushed her chair back and stood up, leaving the two to each other. Walking into the living room, she picked up a book she had left on the coffee table and opened it.

***

After two hours, she had finished the book. There weren't any sounds coming from the kitchen. Dusk was setting in. She bundled up in her coat and mittens and walked towards the lake. Since that day, eleven years ago, when she had cried her heart out there, the bridge had become refuge of hers. She kept her head down against the bitter wind, and started to jog. When she reached it, she looked up and saw that Jess was already sitting there. She started to turn around, but he beat her to it and caught her eye.

"Don't leave. There's more than enough room." He smiled at her, "Besides, I'd like the company."

Rory sat down a few feet from him and said, frowning, "Why aren't you at the diner?"

"Luke came in and said I could go."

"Really? He barely works there anymore …"

"Yeah, I know. I've closed up every night for six months, ever since he moved in with you guys."

"Can you believe they finally got together? I mean, for at least … what? Twelve years or so, he'd been in love with her."

Jess laughed. "It was probably longer. I can't believe it took him that long to ask her out. It's not like it was a secret either. Well, I suppose Lorelai didn't notice, but you can sure as hell bet that everyone else did."

"Yeah. I think he was just afraid of what would happen if it didn't work out, or if Lorelai even felt that way about him," Rory smiled. Jess smiled back, and Rory felt her heart flip over in her chest. That was weird. That had never happened before. They sat in silence for a few minutes before Jess spoke.

"Do you remember when we had that picnic? It was fourteen years ago. I outbid Dean for your basket."

Rory smiled, "Yeah. That was fun." Her smile grew wider. "I still can't believe you ate that."

Jess' face broke into a grin, "Hey, anything to impress a girl." He laughed, but Rory frowned inwardly. Was there a hidden meaning in what he'd just said? Oh, well. She wasn't in the mood to analyze anything.

They stayed on the bridge, laughing, talking about the past, and dreaming about the possible future.


	7. Memories

**A/N: Chapter Seven!**

**ATTENTION: I need some people to answer some questions for me. I need TWO die-hard ****Literati (R/J) fans, and TWO die-hard ****Trory**** (R/T) fans. I repeat, two of each. The first people to respond to this are the ones that get it. hasapi3@hotmail.com Thanks.**

Alright, people. I understand that some of you are very devoted fans of either Literatis or Trorys. But I want to say that I do not appreciate it when you say "this better be a trory" or "this better be a literati." It sounds almost like a threat and I do not like threats. I don't mind if you say that you "really hope this is a literati" or "really hope this is a trory." That's fine. But don't threaten me. I should have been a redhead (no offense; sorry bout the stereotype, but it fits) because I get angry and defensive really fast, and, I'm serious when I say this, I might do the opposite of what you say just to make you mad. 

One more thing. Some people have mentioned that they'll stop reading if I don't make the couple they like the 'reigning' couple. I'm getting sick of it. You know, the only way I'd be able to make you all happy is if I either killed both Jess and Tristan, or if I made both of them be with Rory. But the former would cause you to kill me, and the latter would get Rory sent to jail for committing polyandry (the practice of having more than one husband), and, again, all of you to kill me. So, I have come to the conclusion that pleasing everyone is impossible. 

Well, now that I'm done venting (and sorry if I offended any of you)…

May I please say that I am very grateful to all of you peoples? This is only my second "Gilmore Girls" fic and you guys are really great with all the reviews. I've got 75!! J Keep 'em comin'!!!

There is more A/N on the bottom. I am going to start thanking all of you, and your names are at the very bottom of this whole thing.

There are 1295 words in this chapter. Only 742 are my own, though. And this A/N? Almost three hundred and fifty words. LOL. I'm hilarious. Well, I'll get going on the story before you all murder me or something…

**Rating: PG-13**

**Pairing: R/T, R/J**

**Disclaimer: I do not own "Gilmore Girls." That is owned by Amy Sherman-Palladino and the WB. I do, however, own most of this storyline (some was taken from previous episodes), so steal that and I will haunt you for the rest of your life. And, actually, in this chapter, I have excerpts from some of the episodes. So I REALLY don't own those.**

****************

Rory lay in bed, thinking over the past twenty-four hours. After she had left Jess at the bridge, she'd almost run back home, anxious to get back to the warmth of the house. Telling Tricia about her father had been almost too easy. She was excited, to say the least. Rory was still afraid that it would turn out like it had with her mother and father. 

They hadn't talked for … what was it now? Seven years? Since Tricia's fifth birthday. He'd been there. He and Sherry were going through a tough time, and he was trying, once again, to get back with Lorelai. But luckily, by this time Lorelai had accepted the fact that Christopher would never stay with her, and she'd told him to back off and stay away. And stay away he had. He still sent birthday and Christmas cards to his daughter and granddaughter, but they hadn't seen him since then. 

The movie had gone very well. Tristan and Tricia were getting along wonderfully. And after the movie they had gone back to Luke's, where they'd eaten lunch. Tricia had, of course, inherited her coffee-drinking ability and habit from her mother and grandmother, so together the two Gilmores had finished off almost half a pot of coffee. 

Rory sighed. It was eleven o'clock at night and she was in bed. What had happened to her twenties? What had happened to her teens, for that matter? Tristan. Tristan had happened, and because of that, Tricia had happened. She thought back to when she had first met him…

_She was walking down the hallway on her first day at Chilton when a guy came up behind her._

_"Hey, Mary," he grinned._

_"Me?" She replied, confused. _

_"Yeah, you."_

_"My name is Rory." _

_"I'm Tristan." _

_"Hi." _

_"So, you new?"_

_"Yeah, first day," she replied. _

_"Remmy's class is rough." _

_"Yeah, it seemed very intense." _

_"I could loan you my notes, if that would help." _

_"Really?"__ She asked, thinking that at least she would have one person could call a friend. "That'd be great." _

_"Yeah?__ How great?" He asked, backing her into the wall. _

_"I don't know. Mr. Remmy said that getting someone's notes would be..." _

_"I could even help you study. If you want." _

_"Uh, I kind of view studying as a solitary activity.__ But thanks." _

_"Bye Mary," he smiled, walking off. _

_"It's Rory," she said to his retreating back. _

Rory laughed as she thought about the scene. It hadn't been until after they'd been in the Shakespeare play that Tristan had stopped calling her Mary. He'd said at the time that he couldn't think of her as the Virgin Mary when she'd cheated on her boyfriend with him. Rory hadn't talked to him for a week after he'd said that. He'd finally apologized when they'd had to work on a project together. They'd been getting pretty close, even though she was still with Dean, and then Jess had showed up that night when her mother had been out of town … And Dean had come over …

_She was trying to get him to go, but he wouldn't budge. She knew that if Dean found him here … She finally just pushed him out the front door, yelling, "Bye!" _

_"Okay, well, give him my best, would ya?" Jess replied, starting to leave. He saw Dean in the front yard and changed his mind, "Actually, I guess I could do that myself." _

_"Dean," Rory said, panicking slightly, "Jess just came by to bring me some food." _

_"From Luke's," Jess added. _

_"He wanted to make sure I ate."_

_"Luke did." _

_"Right," she corrected herself, "Luke did." _

_"Personally, I could care less if she eats." Jess said. _

_"Yeah, true, he could care less," she reiterated._

_Jess looked at Dean again. He had a package. "I see you brought a little something, too. Is that ice cream? That's so nice. A tiny little ice cream package just big enough for two. Hey, are you guys gonna feed each other 'cause that's just so darn cute. Oops," Jess stopped. Dean had walked over to him and was glaring down at him. "You're doing that towering over me thing. Huh. I tell you, you've really got that down. It helps that you're twelve feet tall, but this Frankenstein scowl really adds to the whole –" _

_"Jess," Rory pleaded. _

_"Okay, I'm going. Look, man, I really was just dropping off some food, so don't get all __West Side__ Story on me, okay?"_

_Jess left._

Rory almost laughed, thinking of that night. But she couldn't, because even with Paris' help…

_"It's my fault," __Paris__ said. _

_"What?" Dean asked, confused._

_"It's my fault that Jess was here. I saw him in the diner the day I came to Stars Hollow and I thought he was cute and since I'm not great at the whole 'batting the eyelashes, look at my belly shirt' kind of thing, I asked Rory to help me. I thought if she could maybe get him over here, we'd have a chance to talk and … I don't know, it seems totally stupid now and it obviously didn't work – shock, but that's why he was here." She paused, then added to Rory, "Thanks for trying to cover for me."_

Even with Paris' help, she'd realized that Dean didn't trust her, and that hurt. But it wasn't just that it hurt … it was also the fact that she didn't want to be in a relationship where the other person didn't trust her. And maybe she might have entertained a tiny bit of a crush towards Jess, especially because of their mutual love of books, but it wasn't anything that would have warranted Dean getting so upset. So she'd broken up with him the next day, before school. After she'd found out that Luke hadn't sent over the care package. Rory chuckled. 

And then, at Chilton, she'd been down. She and Tristan had been working on a project together, and he noticed her glum attitude. He'd asked her what was wrong …

_"I broke up with my boyfriend today." She replied, sighing. "He didn't trust me. I have a friend, Jess, and he'd come over with food, and __Paris__ was over, and we all decided to eat. But then my boyfriend, Dean, came over, and I couldn't get Jess out fast enough, and Dean found him, and we had a fight. __Paris__ tried to cover for me, by saying that she'd asked me to invite Jess over because she had a crush on him, but didn't know how to tell him or whatever. And he believed her, but … I couldn't help thinking that he didn't trust me. So I decided to break up with him. And I did. This morning."_

_"Wow. Tough luck." He replied._

_"Yeah," she sighed again._

_"Do you want me to drive you to Stars Hollow after school? You know, so you don't have to deal with the bus and everything? We could get a bite at that burger place, Loony's or something."_

_"It's Luke's," Rory corrected, laughing. _

They'd gone to Luke's. He hadn't made any overtures towards her, which had surprised her. Well, he had put his arm on her shoulders, but other than that – nothing. And that had made her happy because it said that he respected her. They'd started going out, agreeing to take it slow, since she'd just gotten out of a long relationship. And they had gone slowly. For God's sake, they'd only had sex once – prom night. But once had been apparently all it took, since, next thing she knew, she was barfing her breakfast up and turning pregnancy tests blue. 

Rory rolled over and sighed. It was going to be a long night, since she apparently couldn't fall asleep. She got out of bed and walked downstairs, stopping in the kitchen. She wanted to make coffee, but she knew that if she turned the coffeemaker on, her mother would be downstairs within two minutes, and she just wanted to be alone for a little while. She sighed again and rested her head on the table, knowing that it was going to be a while before she could concentrate on anything.

****************

**A/N: Alright, so I added this because I thought that my A/N at the top was getting WAY too long. **

Oh, and (sorry I didn't mention this last time) a note on the review from **Phoebe1912: I must say that I am flattered you think so much of my story -- 3,214 words. Well, one word, actually, written about … well, like I said, 3,214 times. It's, like, six and a half pages on Microsoft Word.**

I just want to mention that I'm not going to tell you whether a chapter is going to have mostly R/J stuff or mostly R/T stuff. If you truly like this thing, you won't care.

Sorry for the really long author's note, and for the really nasty stuff I said. I'm just a little upset. 

**Individual thanks go to (and if you wrote more than one, the number of reviews are in the parentheses; this is arranged alphabetically) :**

airforcebrat529, alely7 (2), Alex S., Ana Marie, apple-eye

Babydoll21

Carrie (2), Cat, coffeechick87 (4)

Deeta (2), des (3), dodgerluv (4), Dontia (2)

frankie

Genevah (2), gohuskers8604 (2)

Halie, Heidi

Isabelle

Jamie, jess lover, Jess's gurl, JT (2)

klm111a, Krissy

mandie (2), Mary Mary quite contrary, Melissa Larkin (2)

newyorkgurlie

Phoebe1912

Samantha, Sarah V. (5), ShadowGoddess (3), Shay, starbelly (2)

wishinstar 

And thanks to the 13 anonymous reviewers.


	8. Questions

**A/N:** Hey, people. I really like this chapter. Hope you will too. I started it during my English class and worked on it through lunch and Geography. I obviously was not supposed to be doing this. Ha. They probably just thought I was taking notes for a change.

Some people have mentioned that Tricia doesn't seem to act her age. I agree. I realized that when I was writing her in chapter four, she sounded half her age. It's really too late to change her age, because that would alter EVERYTHING, so I'll just try to get her to act older. If that doesn't work, just remember that sometimes people don't act their age. In fact, I have cousin who is twelve, and she acts like my sister, who is nine. Oh, and they both act another two years younger. They are extremely full of energy, bouncing up and down, off the walls, et cetera. And, always remember – Tricia is a Gilmore with coffee.

Someone mentioned that when you marry multiple people, it's called polygamy. And it is. But you can specify, and when you marry more than one MAN it's called polyandry, and more than one WOMAN is called polygyny. So we're both right.

**Rating:** PG-13

**Pairing:** R/T, R/J

**Disclaimer:** I do not own "Gilmore Girls." That is owned by Amy Sherman-Palladino and the WB. I do, however, own most of this storyline (some was taken from previous episodes), so steal that and I will haunt you for the rest of your life.

****************

"I was surprised you weren't married by now," Tristan confessed to Rory. They were sitting in Luke's Diner eating lunch.

"Why would I be?" Rory asked him curiously.

"Well, besides the fact that it's been eleven years since … I left …" He paused, then continued, "Well, there's still the Jess factor."

"The 'Jess factor'?" Rory replied, confused.

"Well, yeah. I mean, it's obvious he's in love with you. Has been for years."

"What?"

"You heard me." 

"Jess doesn't …" she cleared her throat and dropped her voice. "Jess doesn't love me that way. We're just friends."

Tristan just rolled his eyes. 

Rory rolled her eyes back at him. "You," she said, "Are insane."

"Am not," he whined, pouting.

"Are too," she shot back.

"Am not."

"Are too."

"Am not."

"Okay, well, this is getting stupid."

"Hah! So I'm not insane."

"I did not say that."

"Did too."

"Did not!"

"Did too."

***

Fifteen minutes later Jess was thoroughly enraged at the both of them. They were still bickering like little children ("Did not," "Did too," "Did not," etc, etc) about God knows what. They had stopped making any sense whatsoever ten minutes earlier.

He still couldn't believe that Tristan had returned, let alone that Rory had welcomed him back with open arms. Literally. Tristan had been gone for eleven years, and the guy had ignored her the entire time. Damn Tristan. But he supposed he couldn't place the blame entirely on Tristan's shoulders. After all, he certainly hadn't tried to do anything. It had been eleven damn years, and he hadn't done a single –

Jess was interrupted in his thoughts by Luke coming into the diner. He walked over to Jess, picked up the coffeepot and headed straight over to Rory. He looked like a man on a mission.

***

"Did not."

"Did too."

"Did not."

"Did –" Rory stopped when she saw Luke walk inside the diner. He looked determined about something. He grabbed the coffeepot from Jess and walked straight toward her.

"Rory," he began, pouring her some more coffee. "Can I talk to you upstairs?"

"Of course." Luke looked visibly relieved. Rory grinned, "After more coffee."

***

After half an hour and three more cups of coffee, Rory was getting curious. Luke had never, willingly at least, given her that much coffee. So she stood and walked up the stairs and into Luke's and Jess' apartment. Well, she supposed it was just Jess' now. Luke had, after all, moved out six months earlier. Which was probably for the best, considering that Jess was now a thirty-one-year-old man. 

Luke had followed her. He ran a hand through his hair – well, he tried to, at least, but not succeeding, as he was wearing his baseball cap. He sighed.

"Luke?" Rory questioned, sitting down at the kitchen table.

He fidgeted with the chair he was standing behind, and finally took a deep breath. "Do you think that, if I asked Lorelai," he paused, swallowing, then continued, "to marry me, do you think she'd say yes?"

Rory started to smile. Then she grinned, and jumped from her seat and threw her arms around Luke's neck, squealing with happiness.

"Geez. You'd think I'd asked _you to marry me."_

"Eww. I'm just happy. I mean, you'll finally get to legally be the father that you always were to me anyway." Rory smiled, tears in her eyes, and Luke smiled back. "Of course she'll say yes."

"Well, that being done … how should I ask her?"

Almost half an hour later, Luke wished he hadn't asked. Rory – thirty-year-old college-graduate Rory – was acting as eager as a six-year-old, and her ideas were just as insane.

"Oooh. I know – you could put the ring in her coffee!"

"She'd choke."

"Then you'd be right when you say her love of coffee killed her."

Luke just glared.

"Okay, okay, sick joke. Sorry. Well, we'll just think some more then…"

They sat in silence for a few more minutes before Rory spoke again.

"I give up."

"Me, too." Luke sighed.

"So, ring-in-the-coffee, is it?"

"Yup."

***

The three Lorelais were walking to Luke's the next morning when Rory exclaimed, "Oh! I completely forgot. Tricia, honey, come with me. Mom, you go on to Luke's. I'll be there as soon as possible."

"Um, okay," Lorelai said, looking confused. She continued on to Luke's. When she walked in, she looked around, extremely surprised when she saw no one.

"Lukey! Where are you? I want coffee!" She yelled, sitting down at a table near the counter.

"Coming, Lorelai," Luke called from the kitchen. He walked out carrying a cup of coffee. "Here you go," he said, handing it to her. He walked back behind the counter and started wiping it down.

Lorelai looked at him suspiciously. "What, no argument?" She leaned closer to him and narrowed her eyes. "Are you sick or something?"

"What? No, I'm fine."

"Hmph," she drank her coffee. Suddenly she stopped. "Luke, there's something in my coffee," she whined. 

Luke paused with his wiping and said, "Huh. Well, you better pull it out then." He resumed wiping down the counter, keeping an eye on Lorelai.

"What if it's something yucky?" She pouted.

"Lorelai…" he said warningly.

"Fine, fine." She said glumly. She screwed her face up as she stuck her fingers in the coffee. "Huh. Feels like a ring." She pulled it out, looking at the intricate design in wonder. "Wow. Wonder whose it is."

"Yours," Luke stated simply.

"Nuh-uh. I'd remember something like this. It almost looks like an engagement ring…" she trailed off as Luke caught her eye. "Oh my God."

Luke set the washrag down before he walked around the counter. He stood in front of her for a minute, just looking at her. Getting down one knee, he took the ring from her limp grasp, wiped it on the corner of his shirt, and held it in front of her. "Lorelai Victoria Gilmore, will you marry me?"


	9. Answers

**A/N:** Hello all you pretty people! I have over a hundred reviews!!!! I am so psyched!! I actually should have mentioned it last time, but I didn't notice till after I'd posted Chapter Eight. 

I apologize that the chapter is a little short – this is really as long (or as short, depending on how you look at it!) as it needs to be. It has everything it needs to in it, and I'm not going to try to lengthen it just because it needs to be longer.

Thanks are at the end of the chapter.

**Rating:** PG-13

**Pairing:** R/T, R/J

**Disclaimer:** I do not own "Gilmore Girls." That is owned by Amy Sherman-Palladino and the WB. I do, however, own most of this storyline (some was taken from previous episodes), so steal that and I will haunt you for the rest of your life.

****************

"I can't believe it took them so long to get together."

"Yeah," Rory smiled. "He'd loved her for … what? Twelve years, at least, before he even asked her out. Then another six before he proposed."

Tristan laughed. "Well, at least she said yes…" he trailed off, glancing at Rory uncomfortably. They were sitting on the front porch of the Gilmore Residence, with hot cocoa – well, Tristan had hot cocoa; Rory had coffee – warming the mugs in their hands. Tristan stared off into the distance, not really seeing it. Rory's voice jolted him from his reverie.

"Tristan…" she started, looking at him. "Look. I'm sorry, I really am. It's just … we were so young! We had barely gotten our high school diplomas the first time you asked me, and the second time we were only in our second year of college. At least separately we had a chance. I …" she trailed off.

"Rory," he paused, considering his words carefully before proceeding. "I understand what you're saying, but I think that we could have made it. Okay, we were young, but we were in love, and –"

"Precisely. We were young and in love. That should say it all, Tristan."

"Okay, okay. Maybe we should just drop this argument. We're not getting anywhere."

"Yeah," Rory sighed, taking a sip from her mug as she propped her feet on the railing. "You're completely right. 

Tristan eyed her apprehensively. He frowned.

"What?" She asked, looking at him strangely.

"Why are you giving in so easily?"

"I'm not giving in. I'm just saying that I agree with you. The discussion was getting us nowhere." 

Tristan sighed, then settled back into his chair. "Yeah. Sorry, I'm just a little … I dunno."

They sat for a while, each mulling over their own thoughts, before Tristan spoke again.

"Rory can I ask you a question?"

"Shoot."

"Have you had a boyfriend since I … left?" he asked, swallowing as he said the last word.

Rory paused before answering a quick "No." They both were quiet for a few minutes before Rory looked at him and quietly asked, "What about you?"

Tristan's eyes met Rory's, and for a few minutes they sat transfixed, until a falling icicle caught their attention, causing Tristan to wrench his gaze from Rory's. He looked down at his cup of cocoa. "No … I haven't. I've been on a few dates, but none of them were very serious. I just … no one's you, Rory."

Rory eyes had misted over when he made that pronouncement. She quickly blinked back her tears and said quietly, "Oh."

Tristan looked at Rory before asking quietly, "Do you think we could … well, get back together?"

Silence met his question as Rory weighed her possible responses. Finally, after what Tristan would have called four hours, but in reality had been about one minute, Rory answered him. "Not right now. Not right away. We need to … get used to each other first, I suppose. And it's not just us, either. Tricia is important in this as well. We really can't rush into this. She'll be affected as well. 

"We can get to know each other again. And you and Tricia can get to know each other for the first time… But just remember what I said in the diner. It doesn't matter how, it doesn't matter why, and it doesn't matter where. If you leave us, don't expect to come back here without losing something."

****************

**A/N: Thanks to these people for reviewing the eighth chapter: Carrie, crissy, mandie, Melissa Larkin, miss.pebbles, Sarah V., ShadowGoddess, Shannon E., Sleeping Star, SmoothAsVelvet, starbelly, wishinstar, and the one anonymous reviewer.**


	10. Acceptance

**A/N:** Chapter Ten! I wrote this thing originally at about 3:30 in the morning. I hate it when I get on a roll.

I was, of course, reading my reviews, and one of them seemed … hmm … how to explain? … important, I suppose (written by **miss.pebbles): "i was just skimming over some reviews.. and one caught my eye.. is it true? will it be a trory? my heart is broken.. but faithful as ever - will still read." Although I very much appreciate that you'll continue reading no matter what, I have one thing to say: don't assume anything with me until you see something that says, "The End." And even then – especially then – I'll probably explain it so that nothing is mistaken. But right now, I'm not going to tell you who she's going to end up with. Just remember that until about Chapter 17, both guys have pretty much equal chances. I've got the thing completely planned out till about that chapter. **

Oh, and I want you all to know that I love this chapter! It brought tears to my eyes while I was writing it … and a few more times after that. 

One more thing! I am about to descend into the horrible world of cramming for finals. They are this next week, and I have procrastinated long enough. So long that I have far more to do than I would have anyway. But don't worry, I'll still update. On time, as well. In fact, we're entering a very active time in this story. So read, read, read! (oh, and review, please)

**Rating:** PG-13

**Pairing:** R/T, R/J

**Disclaimer:** I do not own "Gilmore Girls." That is owned by Amy Sherman-Palladino and the WB. I do, however, own most of this storyline (some was taken from previous episodes), so steal that and I will haunt you for the rest of your life.

****************

_You are cordially invited_

_To the wedding of:_

_Lorelai Victoria Gilmore and Lucas Danes_

_To take place at:_

_10:00 a.m.__ on __Saturday, June 11, 2016___

_Stars Hollow Town Square_

***

"Can you believe you're getting married tomorrow?" Rory asked her mother quietly. They were sitting in their living room, watching _Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. Tricia had already fallen asleep in front of the couch, but Lorelai and Rory were still awake._

"No … and yes. I know that I am getting married tomorrow. But this is different than when I was going to marry Max. Then, I was extremely jittery and afraid and fretting … but this time …" She looked at Rory with tears in her eyes. "I've put my wedding gown on every night for the past week, before I go to bed. I look at myself in the mirror, and I twirl around … and I just feel so happy. Just like my mom."

Rory looked confused. "Grandma?"

"Don't you remember, at my bachelorette party when I was going to marry Max, my mom was talking about how before she married my dad, she would get her gown and try it on, and … well, everything I just said. And that was when I'd gotten scared about getting married to Max, and I ran, and … everything. But not now. I've put the gown on every night for the past week, and I just felt so dang happy … that it's impossible not to know that I'm getting married tomorrow – and it would be even more difficult to believe that I was gonna bail like I did last time. This time – I just know that everything is going to be alright." Lorelai's tears were now flowing freely down her face. Rory leaned over and hugged her mother. They sat in silence through the rest of the movie.

Rory slowly disengaged herself from her mother. Lorelai sniffled, before smiling at her daughter. They both got off the couch, and walked into the kitchen. Lorelai opened the fridge and looked in it.

Rory smiled at her mother, "Is there anything edible in there?"

***

Rory lay in her bed, looking up at the ceiling. She was glad that her mother was so sure about getting married to Luke. She remembered what had happened with Max. They'd ended up going on a road trip to Harvard for that one. But it didn't look like there were any pending trips this time – besides the honeymoon of course. 

Rory tried to remember the last time she'd had a vacation. 

Five years? She'd visited Lane with Tricia in Florida. But it had been a long time ago. Which was a bad sign. But at least she was having fun with Tristan. That was a vacation any day. Since they had decided to take it slowly, they had been having a lot of fun. Mostly dinners and movies, sometimes the occasional trip into Hartford. They'd been having a lot of fun, and Rory could feel herself falling in love with Tristan all over again. She was scared, to say the least. She'd fallen in love with him once before, and look where that had gotten her. 

She sighed. She still had Tricia. But she was afraid. Afraid of falling in love. Afraid of getting her heart broken again. When he'd left, eleven years before … she hadn't cared that it was better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all. She had still been nursing her heart, after all. 

The birthday party had been a disaster, Lorelai'd told her afterwards. Everyone was talking and speculating about why Tristan had asked again, why Rory had run off, and, oh! Where had Jess disappeared to? Rory hadn't told her mother that he'd been at the bridge with her. To this day, she wasn't sure why not. It was like her own little private secret. And she liked it that way.

Rory sighed again and rolled over, burying her head in the pillow. She couldn't fall asleep. Standing up, she walked into the foyer and pulled on some shoes before rifling around in the closet for her light jacket. It was a little cold, in the 50s. She walked outside into the crisp, cool air, looking up at the stars and wondering about everything. 

She walked briskly toward the bridge with her head down. Just as she neared it, she caught glimpse of someone sitting on it. She was about to turn around and head away when she realized it was Jess. Smiling, she walked up to him and tapped him on the shoulder.

"Amazing how we always seem to find each other here, isn't it?" She asked him, grinning.

Jess smiled back, although there seemed to be a bit of sadness hidden in the depths of his eyes. "Yeah," he said.

Rory sat down next to, crossing her legs. Leaning her elbows against her knees, she stared out across the water. They sat in silence for what could have been hours, though it was probably only a few minutes, before Rory spoke.

"What are you thinking about?"

Jess paused before answering. "Nothing, really. Although at the same time you could say everything. But I suppose I was mostly thinking about the wedding tomorrow. Luke was tossing and turning in his sleep. That's why I left and came out here. What about you? I know you and Lorelai don't share a room."

"I just … I couldn't sleep. Too many thoughts, too much to think about. My mother is getting married tomorrow! I mean, she was going to get married once before, but she bailed the morning of the ceremony. We went on a road trip to Harvard."

"Wait. Lorelai was gonna get married?"

"Yeah. Max Medina. He was a teacher of mine at Chilton. They were that serious. But I guess mom was just kidding herself or something, 'cause, like I said, she bailed the morning of the big day. Luke had been all depressed about it, her getting married I mean, though mom didn't really notice. She was still in denial about Luke's feelings for her at that point."

"Geez. I had no idea …" 

Rory shrugged. "You weren't here," she said simply. "It was all really hot gossip, but then you got here, and you were the new hot topic," Rory laughed, "So you wouldn't have had a chance to hear about it, and none of us ever mention it."

Silence reigned for another ten minutes before Rory stood. "Well," she began. "I suppose I should get going. I need to go do something. I'm glad I came out here." She smiled, then hugged Jess once before running off into the night.

****************

**A/N: Thanks for reviewing chapter nine go to: **

:( ? :), Babyblugoddess7389, dodgerluv, gohuskers8604, Jess/Rory 4ever!!, klm111a, Laine, mandie, Marge, Melissa Larkin, miss.pebbles, Mysticgrl, pink knox, Sarah V., tpbAngel, wishinstar who doesnt feel like signing in (lol)

Thanks again people!! I've got over 130 reviews!!


	11. Beginnings

**A/N:** Hello, people! Here is Chapter Eleven. It took me forever to start this chapter. It's a long one, and I knew that when I started it. Worst of all, I didn't know WHERE to start it, WHEN to start it, WHO to start it with … *sigh* the worst of all places to be. Indecision. Well, I finally figured it out. Just hope it works, and that you all like it.

I would like to thank Melissa Larkin for noticing a mistake in the previous chapter. The chapter is set in June, and I had Rory putting on a long winter coat. It's fixed now, but I'd once again like to thank Melissa for realizing it and bringing it to my attention.

Oh, and once again, this is REALLY long. So far seven pages on Microsoft Word. Almost three thousand words.

**Rating:** PG-13

**Pairing:** R/T, R/J

**Disclaimer:** I do not own "Gilmore Girls." That is owned by Amy Sherman-Palladino and the WB. I do, however, own most of this storyline (some was taken from previous episodes), so steal that and I will haunt you for the rest of your life.

****************

The doorbell rang. Lorelai put a smile on her face – not that she didn't have any reason to be smiling, but who wouldn't be nervous before getting married? – and opened the door. She almost fainted at the sight that awaited her.

Richard and Emily Gilmore were standing on her front porch. 

"Mo-om," Lorelai's voice faltered. "Dad?"

"Lorelai," her father began. "I know we didn't R.S.V.P., which was extremely rude of us, I'm sure you know, but we hadn't been planning on coming until last night, when –"

Someone cleared his or her throat. "Hello, Grandma. Grandpa," Rory smiled at them. She had come up behind her mother when she heard her grandparent's voices. She hadn't been sure that they wouldn't slip up …

_Rory took a deep breath and rang the doorbell. It was late, she knew. But she had to talk to them. The maid opened the door and narrowed her eyes at Rory._

_"Excuse me, miss, but what are you doing here at this hour?" _

_"I'm extremely sorry, but I have to speak with Mrs. Gilmore. Would you please tell her her granddaughter is here?"_

_"I have been given express orders not to wake her after __ten o'clock__ at night. I'm afraid you'll have to come back in the morning." The maid began to close the door. Rory put her foot in the way before it could close. It closed anyway, since the maid hadn't noticed Rory's foot._

_"Ouch!" Rory yelled. She glared at the door and grumbled, "Well, it always works in the movies." She stood on the doorstep for a few more minutes before ringing the doorbell again. Multiple times._

_The door opened, and the maid poked her head out, glaring at Rory. "Miss, I told you before –"_

_"What is that infernal racket down here, Belinda?" Emily Gilmore walked into the foyer and glared at her maid._

_"I'm sorry, ma'am, but there's a girl here who won't leave. I told her to come back in the morning, but –"_

_Rory shoved her way in through the door. "Grandma, I have to talk to you."_

_Emily stared at her granddaughter with a mixture of shock, surprise, and, if you looked hard enough, joy. "Rory? What are you doing here?"_

_"Like I said, I have to talk to you. Can we go somewhere else?" Rory asked, looking pointedly at Belinda, then glanced back at her grandmother before continuing. "Oh, where's grandpa? He should be here as well." _

_"Oh, yes, of course," Emily replied, slightly flustered. "We'll go into the parlor. Belinda, please wake Mr. Gilmore."_

_The maid nodded her head and the two Gilmores walked into the parlor quietly and sat down. Richard walked in a few minutes later. Rory took a deep breath before speaking._

_"Grandma … grandpa … as you should know, mom is getting married tomorrow." There was no response, so Rory continued. "I know we sent an invitation, and you did not R.S.V.P., and I know it was because of me." Emily opened her mouth to argue this remark, but Rory cut her off. "No, grandma, it was. And I'm tired of being the reason that my mother and grandmother cannot get along. Your daughter is getting married tomorrow! You should be there. She wants you to be there, and I know it. Grandpa, I know it's old-fashioned – and actually a little sexist – but … well, if you remember, you had a letter with your invitation. Mom asked you to walk her down the aisle. It would mean a lot to her if you were there. And I want both of you to meet Tricia. I didn't meet either of you until I was sixteen, and despite the fact that you practically disowned me when I got pregnant, I still want you to have a part in my life, and in my daughter's life. I hope you'll at least reconsider. It would mean a lot to mom, and to me." Rory stood up and began to walk out of the room, then paused. "Oh, and don't tell mom I was here." She walked to the door, leaving a shocked Emily and Richard Gilmore behind._

Rory shook her head, clearing it of her thoughts. She smiled at her grandparents and opened the door for them while Lorelai was standing a little off to the side, still in shock. The two elder Gilmores walked into the living room, which was, amazingly, quite clean. Rory smiled at her mother and grabbed her hand to help her to the living room, since it was clear she wasn't going to move herself. 

***

Meanwhile, Jess was helping Luke get ready. It was difficult, since Luke was extremely nervous, and kept fiddling with his tie and his cuffs and his hair and … well, he was just very nervous. He even tried to put on his baseball cap. Jess stopped him.

"Oh, no you don't. Rory gave me express instructions to keep this away from you," he said, waving the cap in front of Luke, who was sitting in a chair at the kitchen table. They were in the apartment above the diner. Jess tossed the cap into his room before looking back at his uncle. 

Luke looked contemplatively at his nephew. "And you always obey her instructions, don't you?" He asked, watching Jess flush at the remark. "Jess," he began. "Why don't you just tell her how you feel?"

Although Jess was glad that his uncle had finally stopped fretting about the wedding that was going to start in – he glanced a the clock – one hour, he wasn't ecstatic about the new topic. He knew he couldn't evade the question. Luke had learned of Jess' feelings for Rory almost eleven years earlier, after Tricia's first birthday party. "We're just friends. She doesn't see anything more than that. If I said something and she didn't feel the same way … it would probably ruin our friendship." He paused, but Luke didn't say anything, so he continued. "Plus, there's Tristan. They're getting close again. Really close. I wouldn't be surprised if he popped the question again."

Luke cocked his head, looking at his nephew. The kid had grown up. He'd grown up, and he'd rather suffer unrequited love and be able to stay close to her than to risk upsetting her and their friendship. Luke sighed. Jess had grown up.

***

Tristan adjusted his tie in front of the mirror. He was standing in his room at the inn, getting ready for Lorelai's wedding. He was lucky that he'd never taken a sick day or a vacation day or whatever other free days he got at the company. He sure was racking them up now, though. He hadn't been to work since February. It was probably also a good thing that he practically owned the company. Being the president of the corporation tended to do that. Tristan thought about his daughter, and a conversation they'd had in March … 

_"My favorite author is Robert Louis Stevenson." Tricia smiled at him and asked, "Who's your favorite author?"_

_Tristan almost frowned. He hated to real – hadn't really read anything besides stocks and the company history since college. He tried to remember someone's name. "Ernest Hemingway," he finally said, hoping she hadn't read anything by him._

_Tricia wrinkled her nose. "I don't like him. Mommy does, but she said that she didn't like him when she was my age, either. She said she didn't like him until Jess put notes in the margins of a few of his books. Now he's practically her favorite author. Hey! You and mommy like the same author!" Tricia laughed, and Tristan smiled at her, a little curious. _

_"Do Jess and your mom spend a lot of time together?" He asked his daughter._

_Tricia shrugged, "Well, I guess. I mean, we see him at the diner all the time, of course, and sometimes he might come to movie night when we need someone else, especially since Luke moved in. And they talk about books a lot. Sometimes they talk to me about them, too," she said proudly. _

_Tristan smiled at his daughter and decided to change the subject. "So, what's this I hear about you having trouble in math?"_

Tristan frowned. He still wasn't completely certain about Jess' place in Rory's life. Not that he'd forbid her from seeing him or something. It's good to learn from your mistakes, but better to learn from someone else's. Dean had made the mistake of trying to limit Rory's friends, and look where that had gotten him. Tristan definitely didn't want to turn Rory against him.

***

The wedding started without a hitch, although Luke could have sworn his heart stopped beating when Lorelai came into view on her father's arm. Jess was standing next to him, smirking at his uncle. But Jess had also had a momentary lapse in breathing when he saw Rory walk into view in front of her mother. 

"If any person has a reason that these two should not be wed, please speak now or forever hold your peace," the minister said, obviously not expecting anyone to answer him. He opened his mouth to continue without pause – but someone interrupted him.

"I do," a voice from the back of the audience said. Lorelai turned around and looked at Christopher Hayden.

"Christopher? What are you doing here?" 

"Lor, you can't marry him."

"The hell I can't."

"I still love you," he said, looking desperate.

"Christopher, we were over seven years ago. I told you that. We haven't spoken since. Get out."

"But Lor—"

"Christopher, I'm going to ask you one more time. Please get out. Leave, now. Do not come back." She glared at him, and turned back to the minister, effectively shutting out any further comments. 

***

"I can't believe he did that," Rory said to Jess, as they were on their way to the reception, which was being held at the Inn. There had been a shortage of cars, and Rory had lost sight of Tristan (Tricia was going with Sookie), so when Jess had offered her a ride, she hadn't refused.

"Well, I guess he thought he still had a chance. After all, she'd taken him back all the other times he'd asked. I guess he didn't think that this time would be any different, despite the fact that they haven't spoken in seven years. I'd have thought that would've been a pretty big clue, but I suppose some people can't learn." 

Rory shook her head and sighed. She still missed her dad, of course, and wished that he'd had a larger part in her life, but she was mad at him for pretty much deserting them whenever the wind changed, and always coming back at the shortest notice. She didn't want that for Tricia. She'd find a way to make sure that didn't happen, she assured herself as they pulled into the parking lot at the Independence Inn. She hopped out of the car and grinned at Jess as they walked to the reception.

***

Lorelai was happy. Really happy. She looked at Luke – her husband! – and smiled. They would start the dancing soon, as soon as everyone was done eating. Rory was sitting next to her mother, and Jess was sitting next to Luke. Tristan and Tricia were sitting at a table not too far away with Emily and Richard. They seemed to be getting along pretty well. They'd introduced Tricia to her great grandparents before the wedding, at the house. They were getting along very well – especially Tricia and Richard. Apparently they were having an enlightening discussion about literature, if the look on Tristan's face was any indication. 

She still couldn't believe that Christopher had had the nerve to come and interrupt her wedding like that. How could he think that she'd take him back, after everything that happened? She sighed. Well, it wasn't entirely his fault. She _had_ been pretty forgiving for everything he had done, and welcomed him back time and again, and even hoped every single time that maybe this time it would work. Maybe he wouldn't leave. But she'd been wrong, every single time. And after Tristan had left, she and Rory had had a few heart-to-heart discussions about men, and she'd realized that she couldn't spend her life waiting for a man who was already taken. And just ten months after she'd said her final good-bye to the father of her only child, Luke had asked her out. It had been New Year's Eve, 2009…

Lorelai took a deep breath before opening the door. She smiled at Luke and let him in. He looked nervous as well. Good. At least she wasn't the only one. Rory and Tricia were at Lane's house in Florida for the New Year. They'd left the day after Christmas. When Luke had asked if she'd wanted to do something, she'd said yes almost immediately. It had been for selfish reasons, yes – she was lonely, but who could blame her? – but she was sure they'd have a good time. So she asked if he wanted to come to a movie night on New Year's Eve. He was bringing some healthy food – and coffee, of course – and she'd stopped at Doose's the day before to pick up junk food. 

Luke walked into the kitchen and set the food and drinks on the table. "So…" He trailed off.

"So." Lorelai said, fidgeting. What was she doing? She didn't fidget! Straightening, she said, smiling, "I've got Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, a must for every movie night, A Christmas Carol, with Patrick Stewart, and How the Grinch Stole Christmas, the one with Jim Carrey. Old, but good. Which one do you want to watch first?"

They'd watched Willy Wonka, much to Luke's dismay. But they hadn't gotten around to the other two…

Lorelai put her feet back on the ground.

"Lorelai, what's the matter? You've changed positions at least ten times in the last five minutes," Luke said, frowning.

"I'm fine."

"No, you're not."

She wasn't, she knew it. This was a date, plain and simple. Their first date. Which meant that the first kiss couldn't be far behind. That was what was making her nervous. She stared at him for a few more minutes before finally coming to a decision. She leaned forward and grabbed him around the neck, pulling him to her. Luke looked at her, surprised, but then his lips were on hers, and she was in heaven.

Lorelai almost blushed thinking about it. They'd stopped before anything could happen – Luke said he hadn't wanted her to regret it – but they'd lain in each other's arms for the rest of the night.

***

Rory watched her mother and now stepfather dancing. They looked perfect together. It was amazing how much they obviously loved each other. As the song came to an end, she stood up as the DJ called for the second dance, in which the bride would dance with her father, the groom with his wife's mother, and the maid of honor with the best man. Rory walked over to Jess, who had also stood up, and they walked out to the dance floor.

Rory felt like she'd walked into a dream. Jess had obviously taken dancing lessons at some point, as he led her expertly around the dance floor. She smiled at him as the dance drew to a close, and he led her off the dance floor. They walked back to their seats.

***

Lorelai took a deep breath. This was it. One of the things she had been waiting for since she was a little girl. She grinned at her husband of less than – she looked at the clock on the wall – four hours. He smiled back at her, and once again she was struck by just how much she loved him. Snapping out of her sentimental state, she said, grinning, "It's almost time…"

"For what?" Poor Luke. He looked confused. 

"Throwing the bouquet. Sookie should be …" Lorelai paused as Sookie stepped up to the mike set up at the front of the room. "Yes, there she is." 

"Ladies and gentlemen," Sookie began, grinning at everyone. "It's time for our favorite part! Lorelai, please come up to the front. Single ladies? It's time to throw the bouquet!!"

All the single women rushed to the front of the room. Lorelai walked towards Sookie. When she reached her, she turned around and closed her eyes. She didn't want to make a fool of herself by having the flowers fall before they got more than two feet away from her, so she braced herself before throwing them into the air behind her.

****************

**A/N: Thanks for reviewing chapter ten:**

Alexis, coffeeaddict4life, destiny, dodgerluv, klm111a, mandie, miss.pebbles, rorynjess 4ever!, Sarah V.


	12. Decisions

**A/N:** Chapter Twelve! Have fun – this is going to be good.

I have over 175 reviews! You guys are wonderful. I'm so happy! *dances around the room* Okay, well, I'll try to calm down and get on with the chapter …

**Rating:** PG-13

**Pairing:** R/T, R/J

**Disclaimer:** I do not own "Gilmore Girls." That is owned by Amy Sherman-Palladino and the WB. I do, however, own most of this storyline (some was taken from previous episodes), so steal that and I will haunt you for the rest of your life.

****************

Rory was standing towards the back of the room with Tristan and Tricia when Sookie called attention to the front. It was time for the bouquet. Tricia glanced at her mom, who nodded, before running towards the throng of women gathered at the front of the room. Tristan stayed where he was while Rory followed her daughter at a more leisurely pace. She didn't really think that she was going to get married anytime soon and didn't want to spoil anyone's fun. 

Lorelai threw the bouquet. It was going really far. In fact, it was headed straight for Rory. She automatically leaped to catch it. She wouldn't want to be made a fool of for missing the bouquet, of course. Lorelai turned around and blushed when she saw that Rory had caught it – and Rory was still about halfway to the throng of unmarried women. 

People immediately rushed towards her and talk broke out about how wasn't it funny that she would catch it, and Tristan seeming so close to proposing again? Rory couldn't hear these rumors, but she quickly extricated herself from the crowd and went outside. She made her way towards the bridge at a slow pace, fingering the bouquet. Her mother's bouquet. While holding this, Lorelai had committed herself to Luke for the rest of their lives. She would only do that if she really, truly loved him. Rory hoped that she would feel the same when her wedding day came. She didn't want there to be any doubts. 

Sitting down after brushing away some dust, Lorelai Leigh Gilmore looked out over the water. There was so much of it. Always moving, changing, growing, but also staying the same. Her own life was much the same. She had grown up a lot because of Tricia. Instead of the Ivy-league dreams of her youth, she had gone to community college until she'd earned an Associate of Arts, then transferred to Eastern Connecticut State University. A good school, but nowhere near the excellence of Harvard or Yale. She should have worked harder. If she had only gotten that scholarhip … Well, much too late to fret now. 

No matter what, she still had Tricia and her mother, both of whom were definitely the most important in her life. The only others that came close were Luke, Jess, and Tristan. Christopher had never made his way into that category. He'd never been there when she needed him, and that one time, fourteen years ago, when he'd made a promise he hadn't kept …

_"So I'm guessing your mom talked to you?" Christopher Hayden asked his seventeen-year-old daughter. They were walking, with no particular destination in mind, the noise from the wedding in the background. _

_"She talks to me all the time, frequently when I'm begging her not to." Rory joked._

_Her dad actually seemed serious. "And she told you what we discussed? _

_"She mentioned something about it, yes." Rory said, eyeing him thoughtfully._

_"And what do you think about all this?" He seemed nervous._

_"I don't know. What exactly are your intentions?"_

_"Excuse me?" Chris looked confused._

_"Your intentions – are they honorable?" Rory was completely serious._

_"Completely honorable." _

_"Yeah? Because we have been waiting for this for a really long time and we take disappointment extremely hard. I mean it, property damage is often involved." She knew it sounded as though she was joking, but she meant every word. She only hoped she'd never have to keep it._

Then he'd gotten a call. She'd found out later that it had been Sherry, calling to inform her ex-boyfriend about her pregnancy. She really hadn't talked to him after that. Tristan had been wonderful through all of it. But she'd never really gotten her dad back. She thought about Luke. He'd been the only real stabilizing male force in her life, the only man she had ever counted on completely. He was more a father to her than Christopher ever had been.

Tricia needed that. She needed a stabilizing male force in her life, a man she could count on, someone who was a good person, with good ideals, who wasn't skipping town as soon as the wind changed. She had a stable mother (well, Rory liked to think so), but she didn't have a father figure. A kid needed that. 

Rory shook her head, trying to assure herself that she would. For the second time that day, she assured herself that Tricia would have a stable father figure in her life.

***

Tristan took a deep breath. He was standing in the men's room at the Independence Inn, waiting for … actually, he wasn't waiting for anything. He reached into his pocket and fingered the box that he'd presented only once before, though he had offered it twice. Walking out of the bathroom he scanned the room, frowning when he didn't see the blue dress she'd worn. He smiled. It matched her eyes to perfection. He looked around again, and saw Lorelai dancing with Taylor. He almost laughed at the expression on her face. He hurried forward to relieve her of her dance partner.

"Excuse me, Taylor? May I steal the bride?" Tristan grinned at the older man, who looked a little overwhelmed, but still suspicious. He'd always been suspicious of Tristan. He was almost a young hoodlum – except for the fact that he had a rich background, of course. And the former, of course, made Taylor narrow his eyes at the young man before leaving Lorelai to him. They danced for another minute before Lorelai broke the silence.

"Alright, what is it?"

He glanced up. "Nothing. Why?"

"You looked like you wanted to ask me something."

"Yes – well – uh." The song drew to a close. "You know what? I think I'm going to go find Rory. Do you have any idea where she is?"

"Last I saw, she was heading out the back door, trying to escape the hordes of people. She caught the bouquet, you know."

Tristan smiled. "Yeah, I know."

***

Jess walked outside. He needed some fresh air. Well, he also wanted a cigarette, but he'd given them up almost fourteen years earlier when Rory had mentioned that she didn't like it. Just about everything he'd done, he'd done it to earn her approval. He'd even worked himself through a couple years of college, just so he could say he'd gotten a college degree. It was nothing big, just an Associate of Sciences. His counselor had said that an A.S. degree would give him more possibilities if he decided to pursue a higher degree. 

He'd cleaned up his act towards the end of junior year in high school, after she'd started tutoring him. And when classes had started up at the end of August, he'd been a different person, almost. He'd gotten into college. He hadn't known that Rory was pregnant until about the middle of September of their first year of college. She hadn't started showing yet, but she'd given up coffee, and Luke wanted to know why. Well, everyone was also wondering why their Ivy-league-bound sweetheart was going to the local community college. So she told him, and Jess. Miss Patty had found out within ten minutes. Apparently someone had eavesdropped. 

The whole town had known by midnight that Rory was pregnant. At first, many had thought the child might have been Jess', mostly because of the bad boy image – despite the fact that he hadn't done anything to deserve the title within the past four months. But then they'd found out it was Tristan's, and, luckily for him – although Jess suspected Rory had warned him – Tristan hadn't visited the town again till Christmas, by which time tempers had cooled.

Jess walked towards the bridge. He needed to think, and he always thought best while there. He wasn't completely sure why, though he suspected it had something to do with Rory. He'd almost reached it when he heard voices.

"Rory?" It was Tristan. As Jess got closer to the bridge, he saw Rory seated upon it with Tristan standing a few feet away. Jess narrowed his eyes as he saw Tristan fiddling with something in his pocket. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure," she said quietly. She seemed distracted, staring across the water, not looking at the man who stood next to her. 

Tristan laughed nervously. "You know, this would be easier if you were standing." Rory looked confused, but stood anyway. Tristan got down on one knee and pulled out the box he had been fiddling with. Rory's eyes widened as she realized what he was about to do. "Lorelai Leigh Gilmore, will you do me the tremendous honor of becoming my wife?"

Jess watched as numerous emotions flickered across the brunette's face: joy, happiness, shock, amazement, and even a little bit of fear. She opened her mouth, but no sound came out. He was more than a little upset that Tristan had proposed, but, he reminded himself, it isn't as though you have any reason to feel that way. You and Rory are just friends.

It didn't work.

Rory finally managed to speak. "Tristan …" she trailed off as tears poured down her face. Tristan stood and stepped forward, wiping her eyes with his thumb. They stood that way for a few minutes before Rory moved forward. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him down for a long, passionate kiss. Jess looked away, wishing he were in Tristan's place. He kept looking at them through the corner of his eye though, and when they finally came up for breath he turned towards them again. Rory was smiling. 

"Yes."

That was all she needed to say.


	13. Emotions

**A/N:** Chapter Thirteen! I am so tempted to post every day, since I'm gonna be done with finals tomorrow, so I'll have a lot of time to write. But then the story would be done really soon, and I like it. But I'll still consider it…

Over 200 reviews! I got a huge response from the last chapter. I knew that I would, because of the controversial nature of the chapter in regard to pairing. Just remember what I said, both guys have an equal chance till (about) Chapter 17 – sorry trory fans, Jess isn't quite gone yet…

**Rating:** PG-13

**Pairing:** R/T, R/J

**Disclaimer:** I do not own "Gilmore Girls." That is owned by Amy Sherman-Palladino and the WB. I do, however, own most of this storyline (some was taken from previous episodes), so steal that and I will haunt you for the rest of your life.

****************

"I still can't believe you're getting married." Lorelai Victoria Gilmore smiled at her 32-year-old daughter. They were in a bridal shop, trying on gowns. Lorelai was to be the maid-of-honor, and Rory, of course, was the bride.

Rory grinned back at her mother. "Well, we've only been engaged for … what is it now? Four months? And you're one to be talking. You're married."

Lorelai laughed. She was happy, her daughter was happy, her future son-in-law was happy…everyone was happy. 

Wait. Not everyone. Lorelai thought back to her wedding day…

_Lorelai forced a smile at __Taylor__. He really wasn't that bad. He was just … over-excited? Yeah. That seemed a good way to describe it. She saw Tristan across the room, and he glanced at her. It looked like he almost grinned to see her in that predicament. He walked over._

_"Excuse me, Taylor? May I steal the bride?" Tristan grinned at the older man, who looked a little overwhelmed, but still suspicious. He'd always been suspicious of Tristan. He was almost a young hoodlum – except for the fact that he had a rich background, of course. And the former made __Taylor__ narrow his eyes at the young man before leaving Lorelai to him. They danced for another minute before Lorelai broke the silence._

_"Alright, what is it?"_

_He glanced up. "Nothing. Why?"_

_"You looked like you wanted to ask me something."_

_"Yes – well – uh." The song drew to a close. "You know what? I think I'm going to go find Rory. Do you have any idea where she is?" Hmm. He looked nervous._

_"Last I saw, she was heading out the back door, trying to escape the hordes of people. She caught the bouquet, you know."_

_Tristan smiled. "Yeah, I know." He gave her a little bow before leaving the dance floor. Her eyes followed him out the door, but her body didn't. She walked back over to the head table to sit down. Dancing was hard work. After a few minutes, she saw Jess leave out the same door that Tristan had gone out of. She frowned, but just at that moment, Tricia came up, effectively claiming her attention._

They'd talked for a few minutes before Tricia had spotted someone else to talk to, and she'd run off. 

_Lorelai stood and glanced around the room, looking for her husband. Finding him talking to her parents, she grinned and walked over._

_"Hi, mom. Dad." She smiled and turned to her husband, slipping her arm through his. "Hey, sweetie. How about we go dance?"_

_He gave her a passing glance of disbelief before nodding and walking with her to the dance floor. A few seconds after they started dancing, he looked at her and demanded quietly, "'Sweetie'?"_

_Lorelai giggled. "I needed something to get them to go."_

_"They didn't go. We did."_

_Lorelai just shrugged, grinning. Luke rolled his eyes. As they turned, Lorelai caught a glance of Jess sneaking back into the room, his face strained. Lorelai frowned, and looked back at Luke. "Luke, do you think you could go talk to Jess? He looks upset about something. Rory, Tristan, and then Jess all left through the same door, and Jess just came back."_

_Luke shrugged. "I suppose. Could we at least finish this dance?" He asked, pulling her closer. Lorelai smiled at him before nodding._

_They finished the dance in silence, and Luke went to go find Jess. Lorelai sat back down at the table before being claimed for a dance by Kirk, who insisted that she had promised him one. She acquiesced, but not happily._

_"So, Kirk, how are you doing?" Lorelai forced a smile._

_"Well, I'm okay. But Cat Kirk isn't feeling well," he replied seriously._

_"You still have Cat Kirk?"_

_"Yes. He has an appointment tomorrow at the veterinarian's."_

_"Oh, I see." She looked around the room, hoping for an escape. She saw Luke walking her way and breathed a sigh of relief. "You know what, Kirk? I see my husband coming this way."_

_"Oh, yes, you don't want him to get jealous," he nodded seriously. "I get that a lot."_

_Lorelai forced a laugh. "Yeah, that must be it." Kirk walked off and Lorelai turned to Luke. He looked almost grim._

_"I talked to him …"_

_"And?"_

_Luke glanced around. "Can we go sit down?"_

_"Okay," Lorelai said. They walked back to the table and sat down._

_"He heard Tristan proposing to Rory." He paused, but Lorelai didn't say anything. She just stared at him. "And Rory …"_

_"What? What did she say?" Lorelai crossed her fingers. _

_"She said yes."_

_Lorelai jumped up and hugged Luke. "Oh, thank God!"_

_"Lorelai," Luke frowned at his wife. "That's the problem. Jess is upset."_

_Lorelai sat back down. "Oh, yeah. He really does love her, doesn't he?"_

_Luke nodded, and they both turned to look at Jess, who was standing at the corner of the room, leaning against the wall with a glass of punch in his hand. He looked … sad. Which was something they'd never seen on Jess before. And it scared them._

Lorelai shook herself. It had been only four months earlier. Jess had been okay, and had hidden his pain from Rory. Because he'd already missed so much work, Tristan had gone back to Boston at the end of June. He'd visited Tricia and Rory every weekend, though, and was coming to Stars Hollow a week before the wedding. 

"Just as long as you're sure, hon," Lorelai smiled at her daughter. 

Rory laughed. "Mom, I wouldn't have said yes if I wasn't sure."

Lorelai smiled. "I'm gonna miss you."

"I'm not gone yet. And Tricia will be here for another week after the wedding, while Tristan and I are in Greece." 

"Yeah, but after that you'll be moving to Boston."

"It's only three hours away."

Lorelai shrugged. "Yeah, but you've always been less than a house away from me. I'm just really gonna miss you."

Rory smiled at her mother. "I'll come and visit often. And I'll call you, too."

"Yeah." But it wouldn't be the same.

***

"So what's going to happen to the _Stars Hollow Gazette?"_

"I dunno, sweets." Miss Patty smiled at Babette. "She was the best editor that paper has ever had."

"She was the _only editor it's ever had. She started it, after all." Babette paused, and sighed. "I just always thought that she'd marry someone from Stars Hollow. I don't want her to leave."_

"She and Jess should have gotten married. They'd have some nice kids." Miss Patty smiled suggestively. 

"Patty!" Babette scolded. "What about your husband?"

"What? So I can't so much as look at another man?"

Babette sighed, but dismissed the subject. "Well, anyway, they should have gotten married. It's obvious that he loves her. And unless I'm mistaken, she feels something for him that's more than friendship."

Miss Patty sighed. "But it's probably too late anyway. The wedding is next month." She paused and sniffed. "And then our little Rory is going to be gone forever …"

***

Tristan walked into the house and sighed. It seemed so empty. Well, only a month of solitude left. He smiled. Then he was getting married to the girl of his dreams… Rory Gilmore. He had been so nervous when he'd asked her, and ecstatic when she'd said yes. At first, when she'd pulled him down for a kiss, he'd been afraid it would be like the first time. A goodbye. But it hadn't felt like goodbye. And then she'd smiled, and that wonderful word had crossed her lips… "Yes."

They hadn't announced it till after Lorelai and Luke had returned from their honeymoon, Rory not wanting to steal the spotlight from her mom. "It's her day," she'd said when he'd asked why she didn't want to. He understood of course. Her relationship with her mom was wonderful. Better than his had ever been, and he hadn't wanted to do anything to jeopardize it. Not that he thought they'd stop talking because of something like that. But Rory had explained that it would have been one of those things that no one ever talked about, like skeletons in the closet. 

He looked around again, trying to imagine what it would be like when Rory and Tricia moved in. Not surprisingly, he couldn't. He knew it would be different, especially with an almost-teenager in the house. 

They'd talked about the schooling issue quite a bit. At first they'd thought about maybe getting married before school started up in the fall, to make it easy on Tricia so she wouldn't have to transfer schools during the semester, but Emily had quickly told them that two months was nowhere near enough time to plan a wedding. Of course, he and Rory had wanted a simple wedding, but Emily had insisted that her granddaughter have only the best. Rory's relationship with her grandparents was still rocky, so she hadn't refused them.

Tristan walked over to the phone and dialed the now-familiar number. He and Rory had started talking on the phone every night after he got back from work. He smiled as he heard her voice over the line. Everything was going to be fine.

****************

**A/N: I forgot to thank people for reviewing chapter 11, so here it is: Caiy, coffeeaddict4life, dani, Deeta, destiny, dodgerluv, gilmoregal, gohuskers8604, Jessica, jessluver, Melissa Larkin, miss.pebbles, Mysticgrl, pandapearl, Sarah V., wishinstar, the one anonymous reviewer, and especially carrielynn. **

Thanks for reviewing chapter 12: Alliegirl, anna margaret, Dani, des, destiny, dodgerluv, gilmorgal669, JT, klm111a, mandie, MaryATroryFan, megan, Melissa Larkin, miss.pebbles, Phoebe, Sarah V., starshollow, the two anonymous reviewers, and :(() 

Genevah (for reviewing chapters 5, 6, 8, 9, and 10)

anastacy (for reviewing chapters 1 through 6)


	14. Doubts

**A/N:** Chapter Fourteen! Oh my God! Would you look at that? I posted a day early. Consider this an early Christmas and/or Winter Solstice, or late Hannukah, present. I don't know how often I'll be giving you chapters every single day. Probably only as long as I'll be able to keep up. But I'll stick to the original agreement, so that I'll always have chapters in on the days I'm supposed to. I'll even make myself a calendar. :) 

And, just in case any of you were wondering, I have the fifteenth chapter written. It's a little shorter than I've been making them lately, but it's got everything it needs to in it, so I'm not going to try and lengthen it or something. And I'm working on the sixteenth chapter right now, which is going to be good, dramatically. I'm planning on a Rory/Tricia conversation. Hopefully we'll learn more about her daughter's character.

Oh, and thanks again for the great response. You guys are great! Thanks are at the end of this chapter…

**P.S.: **I found quite a few mistakes, like, Tristan is the father of Tristan, Rory is already married to Tristan (as in, I called him her husband instead of her fiancé), "Rory was getting marrying" … I have no idea what's wrong with me. Repost as of 7:05 PM.

**P.P.S.:** dodgerluv mentioned something so I added it. It's while Rory's doing her little thinking thing. She hadn't thought at all about what Dean said about Jess. So I added it. As of 8:00 AM, December 20, 2002.

**Rating:** PG-13

**Pairing:** R/T, R/J

**Disclaimer:** I do not own "Gilmore Girls." That is owned by Amy Sherman-Palladino and the WB. I do, however, own most of this storyline (some was taken from previous episodes), so steal that and I will haunt you for the rest of your life.

****************

"Gimme coffee."

"No."

"Why not?" she whined.

"It'll kill you."

Rory let out a frustrated sigh. "Jessie, come on. I want coffee."

"No," he paused. "And _don't call me Jessie."_

"Jess…" she trailed off warningly.

"Fine." He poured her a cup.

Rory grinned triumphantly.

"Shouldn't you be at work?"

"No one's there."

"And how would you know?"

"Because all I have to do is look out the window like this …" she glanced out the window of the diner. "And I know that no one is there."

Jess rolled his eyes. She'd rented out the building next to the diner, where Taylor used to have his snow-cone shop before it ran out of business. It was for the _Stars Hollow Gazette, which was pretty successful, considering it only catered to the very small town of Stars Hollow, and was a weekly paper. It's most successful bit was the gossip page, written by Miss Patty, sometimes co-written with Babette. Rory wrote most of the stories, and she did a pretty good job, considering what she had to work with. She'd once mentioned something about an article about pavement that explored something about how eventually everything is obsolete, but he'd never gotten the full story on that. He wasn't sure he wanted to know._

But she spent quite a bit of her office hours at the diner, bugging Jess. It was, she'd told him often enough, a very exciting past-time.

"Okay, then, shouldn't you be getting ready for your wedding? It is tomorrow, after all."

Rory wrinkled her nose. "I tried. They kicked me out. Of my own house, nonetheless!"

"Well, it's actually your mom's and Luke's." Jess smirked at her. 

Rory rolled her eyes at him. "Whatever. So, next week's _Gazette is done, I can't work on my wedding, and, well, this __is Stars Hollow. So the only interesting thing to do," she concluded, "Is bug you."_

"Why don't you go read something?"

Rory shrugged, grinning. "This is more fun."

Jess just smirked, and grabbed the coffeepot to make the rounds. The door opened, and he glanced up. What he saw made him stop in his tracks.

It was Dean Forrester.

***

"This is more fun," Rory grinned. Jess smirked back at her, then picked up the coffeepot, probably intending to make the rounds. He walked off, and Rory was left staring at her mug. After a few seconds, she heard the door open, but didn't bother turning around. Silence fell over the diner. Rory got a sense of foreboding, and slowly spun around on her chair. 

It was Dean. Perfect Dean. First boyfriend Dean. First love. First kiss. First break-up. 

"Rory." He looked at her. She just stared back, completely shocked. Finally she stood up and strode past him out the door. She felt him follow her.

When she reached the newspaper office door, she turned around and glared at him. "What are you doing here?"

"I heard you were getting married," his eyes searched her face longingly. "Jess is a lucky man."

Rory laughed. "I'm not getting married to Jess. Remember Tristan?"

"Oh."

"Yeah," she paused. "How did you find out?"

"My sister." Rory nodded. She and Clara had bonded after an interesting altercation with a first boyfriend. Apparently the guy had gotten the idea that Clara was easy, but she'd quickly saved him from _that disillusion. Rory had been the first one Clara had run into, and, after recognizing Rory as her brother's very nice former girlfriend, had proceeded to spill._

To make a long story short, she'd invited Clara to the wedding. 

After a few minutes of silence, Rory finally asked Dean the question foremost on her mind. "What are you doing here?"

Dean didn't answer for a minute. He just looked at her. Finally, he said, "I had to see that you were happy. I had to know. And I had to tell you …"

"What?"

"I still love you."

***

Rory lay in bed, thinking back over the day. After Dean's shocking pronouncement, Rory had gone home. She'd turned on _Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory and watched it till her mom had come home from the Inn. They'd talked, but Rory hadn't mentioned what Dean had said, only that he was in town._

Dean still loved her. It was shocking, to say the least. Especially since she was getting married the next day. But it also made her think. Especially about her mother and Christopher. Chris had claimed to love her mother, and he'd constantly come back, but usually only when he and Sherry were on the rocks. Otherwise, he was pretty much perfectly happy. And her mom and cut him loose. Seven years earlier. And he'd come back anyway. Rory had cut Dean loose fourteen years earlier, and he'd come back as soon as he'd heard she was getting married.

Maybe he did still love her. But she didn't love him. And she'd told him that. She explained that she loved Tristan and was marrying him because of that. 

She thought about her fiancé.  That _was why, right? She loved him. She knew that. She would always love Tristan. But she'd always love Dean as well. So why didn't she marry him? Because she loved the memory – and memories – she had of Dean, the first boyfriend, first kiss, first love…_

Tristan. He was the one she was marrying. That said something, didn't it? She was marrying Tristan because she loved him.

Okay, fine. She'd also made a pro and con list. Pros: she loved him; he'd be a wonderful father to Tricia; he was Tristan's natural father, anyway; he had a good job. Cons: she'd have to move away from Stars Hollow. See? Fours pros, and only one con. 

But then there was that other thing Dean had said. Why had he thought she was marrying Jess? He knew that she'd gone out with Tristan practically since they'd broken up, and that they'd still been going out when Dean left Stars Hollow for college. So what had made him think that she was marrying Jess, of all people?

That was a stumper. And it made her upset more than anything, because she hated not knowing. Plus, of course, the fact that it was_ Jess. Well, they'd been best friends for years. Since when would they have 'more-than-friends' feelings for one another? But… Tristan had noticed something. She'd passed it off as simple jealousy, but what if he'd been right? What had he called it? 'The Jess Factor'? Rory laughed. Yeah, right._

***

Jess lay in bed, wide awake. Rory was getting married. In less than twenty-four hours. In less than twenty-four hours, he would lose her forever.

He rolled over, trying to fall asleep. There was a sound. Frowning, he tried to listen harder. There it was again. It sounded like someone was pounding on the door of the diner. 

He jumped up, pulling some jeans over his boxers, and ran downstairs. No one ever came this late. Except…

"Rory." He just stared at her. She smiled at him and walked through the door he was holding open.

"Hey, Jess." She said, sitting at the counter. He was instantly reminded of the many times this had happened in the past, when she couldn't sleep. But she hadn't been over in … how long had it been? At least before Tristan had returned. He shook himself out of his thoughts.

"What…What are you doing here?" He cursed himself for stumbling over his words and closed the door. Desperately needing something to do with his hands, he walked behind the counter and started making coffee.

"What?" She smiled. "I need a reason to visit my best friend?"

Jess cocked an eyebrow. "At two in the morning, you'd better have a damn good reason."

"It's only one," she dismissed with a wave of her hand. He just looked at her. "Fine." She paused before continuing. "I'm having doubts," she finished, slumping in her seat.

Jess' heart leapt painfully within his chest. Quickly he calmed himself and reminded himself that he needed to be level-headed. He couldn't let his emotions get in the way. So he buried them, like he had only too many times before. "Everyone has doubts, Ror," he said finally.

"Yeah," but she didn't sound as if she believed it.

As much as he feared the answer, he had to ask. "Do you love him?"

"Of course!" She exclaimed.

There it went again. He'd have a heart attack at this rate. He glanced at the coffee. It was done, so he poured a cup and handed it to Rory. She smiled gratefully and gulped it down.

"I so needed that," she sighed blissfully. Grinning at him, she said, "Thanks, coffee-boy."

"Hey, what happened to best friend?" Jess smirked playfully.

Rory shrugged and gulped down the rest of her drink. Becoming serious again, she said quietly, "It's just that, ever since Dean came…."

"What? Did he say something?" If he had, Jess swore—

"No! Well, yeah, but not what you mean. He said … he said he still loves me," she finished, tears coming to her eyes. Jess stared at her disbelievingly. "And so I started thinking. I mean, I'll always love Dean. He was my first boyfriend, first love, first kiss … So then I started thinking, 'What if I only love the memory of Tristan?' I mean, it's the same thing that it is with Dean. I'll always love Tristan, no matter what. I know that. I mean, Dean had a lot of firsts, but Tristan was my first…" she trailed off, shifting on her seat uncomfortably. She cleared her throat. "He's the father of my daughter."

Jess stood quietly for a few seconds before answering. "Rory, I don't know what to say. This sounds like something you should be talking to Lorelai about, not me."

Rory sighed, putting her head in her hands. "I know, but I don't think I could. Besides, she's not much of a 'middle of the night chat' person. Plus I didn't want to disturb them if they were… Well, let's just say I've walked in on too many make-out sessions."

Jess laughed. "Well…" he trailed off, uncertain of what to say. "Are you looking forward to it?"

"Yeah."

"Is Tricia?"

Rory smiled. "Definitely."

"Are you nervous?"

"Well, yeah."

"Are you deathly afraid?"

Rory furrowed her brow, then laughed. "Noo…" she drew out the word. He almost thought it sounded uncertain, but then dismissed it.

"Well, that's all I've got."

Rory shook her head, smiling, then walked around the counter to give Jess a hug. He put his arms around her and kissed the top of her head, even though he was dying to lean down and kiss her on the lips. She pulled away and smiled at him. His heart began beating erractically. She sighed. "I just … I want to know how to be sure that I'm doing the right thing. I don't want to make the wrong decision." She searched his eyes a few seconds before saying, "I love you, Jess. Thanks for being such a great friend." Then she finished, her eyes twinkling, "Even if you weren't much help." 

Jess forced a laugh. "I love you, too, Rory," he said, watching her walk out the door, knowing she didn't understand the full meaning of his words.

"More than you will ever know…" he whispered, the sound echoing ominously in the empty diner.

****************

**A/N: For anyone who's wondering, I felt sorrier for Dean than I did for Christopher, which is why his plea to Rory wasn't as pathetic as Christopher's was to Lorelai. He, at least, accepted that Rory was lost to him forever. He just wanted her to know…**

Thanks for reviewing chapter 13: coffeeaddict4life, destiny, dodgerluv, Dontia, Genevah, gohuskers8064, jessluver, mandie, MaryATroryFan, Melissa Larkin, miss.pebbles, Mysticgrl, Sarah V., Shay, starbelly, the one anonymous reviewer

Thanks to the people who reviewed chapter 12 after I posted chapter 13: Alexis, Genevah, starbelly, and the one anonymous reviewer


	15. Wedding Dress

**A/N:** Chapter Fifteen! It's the wedding day (Saturday, November 12, 2016, if you were wondering)…

I rewrote this chapter because a lot of what happened didn't make sense. But I think it's got the basic stuff in it that I wanted it to have.

Also, I'd like to thank **dodgerluv for mentioning that Rory should have thought more about the comment Dean made about her marrying Jess. I added some more thoughts in her 'thinking' scene. I knew there was a reason I made Dean say that! LOL. **

I'm sorry this chapter was so short. The next one will hopefully be longer.

One last thing! And then I'll let you read the story. I have just realized something. I am ashamed of myself. I am a horrible procrastinator, and I'm not getting everything from my classes that I could be, because I'm not really trying. So I'm going to really try, starting with learning everything I should have learned in my classes this past semester. Meaning that I'm going to be doing a lot of reading. And I'm not going to be reading that much fan fiction anymore. I used to spend hours reading the stuff, but now I'm just going to keep up on the stuff that I've already started, and even that might take a while. So I'm really sorry. But I'm going to keep up on this story because I PROMISED you guys that I would get a chapter out every other day. And that's what I'm going to do.

**Rating:** PG-13

**Pairing:** R/T, R/J

**Disclaimer:** I do not own "Gilmore Girls." That is owned by Amy Sherman-Palladino and the WB. I do, however, own most of this storyline (some was taken from previous episodes), so steal that and I will haunt you for the rest of your life.

****************

Rory woke up in a deep sweat. Her wedding dress. 

"Oh my God," she whispered.

***

Lorelai smiled in her sleep. Yeah, there you go… suddenly she was jerked awake. "Wha…" she mumbled. "Who's there? I was having a good dream! The Munchkins were feeding me chocolate."

Rory almost laughed, but held it in. "Mom, we've got to go."

"Oh my God! We're late, aren't we? Oh, God, I knew it." Lorelai jolted up in bed, then blinked. "Wait a minute." She looked out the window. "It's still dark outside," then she glanced at her clock. "Hon, it's three o'clock in the morning." She laughed. "We're not going to be late."

"Oh yes we are," Rory said. She moved around the room, throwing clothes into the suitcase she was holding.

"Rory, what are you doing?" Lorelai frowned at her daughter.

"What does it look like?"

"Oh my God. You're running away," she gasped, throwing her legs over the side of the bed, staring at her 32-year-old daughter.

"And you're coming with me."

"What? No I'm not."

"Oh yes you are. Remember Max? You owe me."

"Oh God." Lorelai groaned and fell back into bed. 

Rory glanced back at her and frowned. "Where's Luke?" She asked, looking at the empty spot beside her mother.

"After the bachelor party they all decided to sleep at the Inn. Keep Tristan company."

"Oh."

Lorelai got out of bed and helped her daughter finish packing the suitcase. "Rory, are you sure?"

"Yeah, I'm sure."

***

Rory started the car and they drove out of the driveway. Tricia was sleeping in the back seat. They'd barely been able to get her out of the house before she fell back asleep. Lorelai was sitting in the passenger's seat.

"What made you change your mind?" Lorelai asked her daughter quietly.

"My wedding dress." Rory's eyes filled with tears. "Do you remember the day before you married Luke? You were talking about how you'd tried on your wedding dress every night. You said that you hadn't done that when you were going to marry Max."

"Hon, I don't want you to stop your wedding just because of that. I mean, everyone's different."

"No, it's the fact that I haven't even looked at it since you finished making the adjustments two weeks ago. I've stayed away from the closet like it's infected. I was scared to look at it, even though I didn't admit it to myself until this morning."

Lorelai shook her head. How did this happen?

***

"Rory, have you called anyone?" Lorelai asked a half hour later.

"Oh my God!" She spotted a rest area and pulled over. "I have to call Lane and Tristan and Grandma … oh, God. Grandma." She pounded her head on the steering wheel a few times before pulling out her cell phone and dialing.

***

Lane cursed as she heard the phone ring. She rolled over, trying to ignore it. Finally the ringing stopped, and she gave a sigh of relief. But then it started again. Lane groaned and lifted her head, and picked up the phone.

"Whoever this is better have a damn good reason to be calling at—" She glanced at the clock. "—four o'clock in the morning?! Are you insane?"

"Lane?" Huh. That sounded like Rory. She wasn't _that insane._

"Yeah…" Lane rolled onto her back.

"You know, you might want to reconsider how you answer your phone. What if this had been your mother?"

"Rory, you better not have called me at four in the morning to talk about phone etiquette. Speaking of which, why are you calling me this early? Your wedding isn't for another six hours. Surely you don't need that much prep time."

"Yeah…look, Lane? I need you to spread the word to all the Stars Hollow people that the wedding is cancelled."

And then Lane, still in a shocked state, heard Rory hang up the phone.

***

Rory pulled up to the hotel.

"Where are we?" Tricia asked her mother, albeit a bit groggily, as she had just been shaken awake. 

"I have no idea."

****************

**A/N: Thanks for reviewing chapter 14: Dani, destiny, dodgerluv, flossie, Genevah, girldevil, ILUVJESS4EVA, jessgurly, jesslover, mandie, Melissa Larkin, Ren, Sarah V., and the one anonymous reviewer.**

Oh, and if any of you Literati fans want to read a pure Literati, no Tristan and Dean included, check out another one of my stories, "Just As Long As I Have Breath." It's a songfic, but there's not that much song.

My other story is called "Le Journal de Lissa Guillame." I don't have the specific pairing on that one because it's going to be R/D, R/J, R/T. I don't have the guys in yet, but I will eventually. Just one short chapter so far.

Thanks again, people! I have more than 235 reviews! I love you all!!!


	16. Explanations

**A/N:** Chapter Sixteen! Still the wedding day…

Wow. This thing's almost 3,000 words, plus it's nine pages. My longest chapter yet. I wanted to include a lot. :)

**Alexis asked if Dean was going to be a possible boyfriend or whatever. I'd have to say no. I really only needed him for that chapter, and I'm not planning on having him in any more of the story. But there's always the possibility that I might need him for some reason. You really don't know till you're done that you're positively not going to do something. So that's my answer. Probably not, but I don't know. There's always possibilities.**

Oh, and it's vacation time!! Meaning that I have tons of time to write, meaning that you guys get more (and longer) chapters…

Thanks for all the reviews! I've got over 260… :) You guys are awesome!!!!!

**Rating:** PG-13

**Pairing:** R/T, R/J

**Disclaimer:** I do not own "Gilmore Girls." That is owned by Amy Sherman-Palladino and the WB. I do, however, own most of this storyline (some was taken from previous episodes), so steal that and I will haunt you for the rest of your life.

****************

Rory lay back in the bed. She was going to do it. She was going to call them. Who first? She groaned. Grandma was going to be bad because of the whole engagement gone to waste, the possible connection with the DuGreys, the whole expense of the wedding, and just overall disappointment. But Tristan. She had almost literally left him at the altar. Sure, she was going to call him now, but it was only three hours before the wedding. She hadn't even given him 24-hour notice. She groaned again.

"Wow," Lorelai interrupted her thoughts. She walked in the hotel room. "You just groaned twice in two minutes. Must be bad."

"Very funny. You know very well that I have to call him."

"Yeah, I know sweets. But I'd have thought you'd already thought about it."

"Well, I didn't really think that much," she paused as Lorelai sat down on the bed, then asked, "Where's Tricia?"

"Oh, some guy on a motorcycle came and picked her up. Said she'd be back … uh, actually he didn't say."

"Mom…" Rory groaned.

"Fine, fine. She's talking with the owner of the hotel. Nice woman. Apparently has a large collection of books. I left after they started arguing about … Helium? Hemins?"

Rory laughed. "Hemingway. He's just about my favorite author. You know, I used to hate him, till Jess put notes in the margins. Then it got more likable, and eventually I loved it."

Lorelai eyed her daughter. "Is it because of Jess?"

"Is what because of Jess?" Rory frowned.

"Is that why you decided not to go through with the wedding?"

"No! He actually encouraged it. Or, at least he did last night. Or, maybe it was this morning…"

"What? When did you talk to him?" Lorelai frowned.

"I was having doubts last night, and I couldn't sleep. So I went over to the diner, pounded on the door till he opened up. We talked."

"You went to Jess when I was just down the hall?" Lorelai queried, confused.

"Well, I was afraid of walking in on something between you and Luke."

"Hon, you know very well that we're old. We don't DO anything after ten." Lorelai laughed. Frowning, she said, "But you went to Jess. Not me. Not Lane, who was at the Inn. Jess. You went to Jess. Of all people …" Lorelai finished with a little smile on her face. "Of all people, you chose Jess."

"Mom, I don't see the significance of this. So I went to Jess. He's like, my best friend."

Lorelai shook her head, looking at her daughter sympathetically. "I can't believe it. I really can't believe it…" she trailed off. Taking one last glance at her daughter, she stood and left the room.

What on earth was her mother getting at? So she'd talked to Jess. What was so big about that? Jess was her friend. But then again, what she'd said made sense. She knew that Luke and Lorelai were almost always asleep by eleven at the very latest, since in their 'old age' they needed more sleep. Lane was actually in town. She wasn't that far away at all. So why had she gone to Jess? He'd mentioned something about needing to go talk to Lorelai, but she hadn't given it much thought. 

Okay. So she'd chosen Jess above all people. Even her mother. And that made her frown, because her mother was her best friend. They were closer than sisters, and definitely closer than normal mothers and daughters. So what did that mean? Why had she chosen Jess? The only time she'd ever heard of women choosing someone over their family (and her mother was her family) was for a man they loved.

Wait. Did she just say love? She didn't love Jess. No. She didn't. She couldn't. She loved _Tristan. Tristan!_

Didn't she? 

Rory groaned. "This is just what I need…" 

She couldn't love Jess. Why would she love Jess? And if she loved Jess, then why had she said yes to Tristan? She thought back to that day by the bridge…

_"Rory?"__ It was Tristan "Can I ask you something?"_

_"Sure," she said quietly. She wasn't really listening though, just staring across the water, not looking at the man who stood next to her. _

_Tristan laughed nervously. "You know, this would be easier if you were standing." Rory was confused, but stood anyway. Tristan got down on one knee and pulled out the box he had been fiddling with. Rory's eyes widened as she realized what he was about to do. "Lorelai Leigh Gilmore, will you do me the tremendous honor of becoming my wife?"_

_So many emotions flew through her brain. Joy, happiness, shock, amazement, and even a little bit of fear. She was overjoyed that he'd asked, since she thought that they'd really been getting somewhere with their relationship. But she was a little shocked at the same time, because she thought it was a little soon. Also, this was her mother's wedding. What was he doing proposing at her mother's wedding? She was happy, though, despite that. Tristan, the man she loved, had proposed. He was the father of her daughter. And if she said yes, he could be that father in the fullest sense of the word. He could be there for Tricia like he hadn't been before. And that really was the deciding factor. _

Rory sighed. That was it. That was why. Tricia. She remembered now, how much she'd thought that day about Tricia needing a real father figure. That was it. Well, maybe not all of it. She was sure she loved Tristan. But then again … maybe it was like what she'd thought about the night before. Maybe it was the memory of Tristan, and the fact that he was Tricia's father. That really created a bond between people. Parenting a child.

Rory snorted. Yeah, like Tristan had actually done any parenting beyond the initial creation. Rory almost gasped. Was that how she viewed it? Was she mad that Tristan had skipped town when she'd said no the second time? Well, of course she was. Who wouldn't be? But maybe it wasn't that he'd skipped town, but also that even before he'd left, he hadn't really done anything. He'd just … been there. 

He'd never baby-sitted while she was taking summer courses. He never took summer courses at his college. He didn't care what his counselor said. And those courses had been the first ones she'd taken after the birth. Tristan had come down for almost the entire summer. He'd never helped. Jess had baby-sat that summer. Luke had baby-sat that summer. Lorelai had baby-sat that summer. Geez, even Miss Patty had, though Rory still questioned _why. She hadn't even had to ask. She'd just say, "I've got classes," and everyone would volunteer. Except Tristan. Sure, he might stay around, but he never took any real responsibility._

Was that it? Did she resent him for not taking responsibility? And if that, then why had she ever said yes? Why had she ever thought she loved him? And if she was right about loving Jess, well, that was another reason. Why had she thought she loved Tristan when in reality she loved Jess? Why hadn't she explored these feelings before?! Why now, when the wedding was going to start in – Oh God, two hours. 

Rory picked up the phone like it was a snake – and she didn't like snakes – and dialed the number at the Inn. She was going to call Tristan first. 

"Independence Inn, Michel speaking."

"Hey, Michel," Rory attempted cheerfulness.

"Ah, Rory. And to what do I owe the pleasure of this call?" Michel drawled.

"Could you transfer me to room 208?"

"Of course…" 

The phone began ringing again, and Rory's heartbeat increased ten-fold. 

"Hello?" It was Jack, Tristan's best man.

"Jack?" 

"Rory? What are you calling for?" Jack sounded bewildered, but also like he had a smile on his face.

"Umm, can I talk to Tristan?" Rory's heart was beating erratically.

"Yeah, sure." There was a muffled noise that sounded like Tristan's name.

"Rory?" Tristan was on.

"Yeah. I – I need to tell you something." Rory's eyes were wet. She was crying.

"Rory, what is it?" Tristan sounded worried. And Rory knew he had a right to be.

"I…" Oh, God. How do you tell a guy you don't love him? How do you tell a guy you're supposed to be marrying in two hours … that you're not?

"Rory?"

"I'm not marrying you," she choked out.

"What? _What did you just say?"_

"I said," Rory's voice stabilized more with each word she voiced, "That I'm not marrying you today. I've already called Lane. She's going to tell everyone in Stars Hollow. I'm calling my grandmother next."

"Rory, you can't do this to me. Do you have any idea what it's like to be left at the altar? _Do you have any idea? You don't just do something like that. Not to me."_

"Oh, so it's about you now? Well what about me? What if I don't want to marry you? What if I realized at a very early time this morning that I don't love you?!"

There was silence for a few seconds before Tristan responded. "If you realized that at a very early time this morning, then why didn't you call me earlier?" He sounded remarkably calm.

"Well…I'm kind of in … well, actually, I don't know where I am. I just started driving. We drove for five hours, and I think it was west, so … well, I really don't know where we are."

"We?"

"I pulled Tricia and my mom with me."

Tristan sighed. "Look, Rory…as long as…you're sure. Just remember, that this is the last time. I'm not asking again. In fact, I'll probably be gone before you get back. And I don't think I'll return."

"I understand that, Tristan. And believe me when I say I am so, incredibly sorry." Rory's eyes were still teary as she said her final good-bye to her second love.

***

The phone was ringing. And ringing.

"Gilmore residence." It wasn't Emily.

"Hello, is Emily Gilmore there?" Rory asked. 

"No, I'm afraid she left a few hours ago. May I please take a message?"

"Oh, no, that's okay." Rory hung up quickly. She should have known. _Of course she would have gone to Stars Hollow early, to make sure everything was ready. Stupid, Rory berated herself. She quickly dialed the Independence Inn again._

"Independence Inn, Michel speaking."

"Hey, Michel. It's me again. Is my grandmother there?"

"The lovely Emily Gilmore? Ah, yes. Would you like to speak with her?"

"Yeah, could you put her on?"

"Of course." 

A few seconds later, Rory heard her grandmother's voice. "Emily Gilmore speaking."

"Grandma?"

"Rory? Where are you? And where is your mother? She was supposed to be here an hour ago!" Emily sounded agitated.

"Grandma, I've got some really bad news."

"Well, what is it Rory?"

"There's not going to be a wedding," she blurted out.

"What?"

"I said—"

"I heard what you said. Why is there not going to be a wedding?"

"I don't love Tristan."

"Oh."

"Yeah, so…"

"So, what. There's not going to be a wedding. Of course there's not going to be a wedding."

"I'm so sorry Grandma…"

"I just want to know why."

"I told you why. I don't love Tristan."

"Well if you didn't love Tristan, then why did you say yes in the first place?"

"Because I thought I did."

"Well you should have known! Do you have any idea how much this cost? And not just the cost – we thought our granddaughter was getting married. We thought that our great-granddaughter would finally have a father. But nooo – you change your mind right before the ceremony."

"Grandma," Rory interrupted her, "I'm sorry. I mean it. I know how much this all meant to you, and I'm sorry. But you have to understand that I thought I loved him! But then I woke up this morning and I realized that I hadn't touched my wedding dress in two weeks."

Emily quieted at that. They all knew the importance of the 'wedding dress try-ons.' It would probably become tradition, now that two Gilmores had left men at the altar because of them. "Well, Rory, as much as I am disappointed in you, I understand. I'll just go tell everyone to stop getting ready…"

"I'm really sorry Grandma—" Rory started again, but Emily had already hung up.

***

Rory fell back on the bed and closed her eyes. She'd done it. She'd made both calls. She was done.

"Mom…" Tricia trailed off, pausing in the doorway of the small hotel room. Rory opened one eye and looked at her daughter.

"Hey, hon," she said, attempting cheerfulness. Tricia looked troubled. "What is it?"

"Mom, what are we doing here? Why aren't we at the wedding? Oh, and where is here?"

Rory would have laughed at the last question if her eyes hadn't watered at the second. She sat up and, biting back her tears, she attempted to console her daughter. "Tricia, please come over here." She tried to smile, patting the mattress beside her.

Tricia's eyes narrowed, and she walked over to the bed and sat down anyway. Before Rory could say anything, Tricia spoke. "Mom, please don't pull any crap on me. I'm old enough to know the truth, whatever it may be."

Rory tilted her head an eyes her daughter thoughtfully. She really was getting older. She wasn't a tiny little baby anymore. And she was older than she looked. Older than she was, really. Rory sighed. She deserved a real answer. "It's really complicated."

"Try me," Tricia stated, crossing her arms. 

Rory sighed and fell back onto the bed, staring at the ceiling. "Well, to understand everything that's going on now and in my poor mind, I'm going to have to tell you about all of mommy's past boyfriends."

Tricia giggled. One side of Rory's mouth lifted slightly. She might be intellectually old, but she was still a kid.

Rory continued. "Okay, then. I'll try to keep this as short as possible, but it gets complicated. Well, Tristan – your dad – and I met in sophomore year in high school…."

***

Lorelai walked towards the hotel room with coffee. Nowhere near as good as Luke's (okay, so maybe she'd snuck a sip or two), but it was coffee, and Gilmores needed coffee. Especially since they hadn't had any today. Lorelai shuddered. Blasphemy. As she neared the room, she noticed that Rory was talking animatedly, which she hadn't done AT ALL in the past however-many hours since Rory had woken her up. In fact, she'd been rather quiet. 

Lorelai snuck up to the door, set the coffee down and put her ear up against the wood. The noise was muffled, and she scowled, glaring at the door. She leaned against the wall and slid down until she was sitting, and pulled out one of the coffees. 

***

Rory yawned. "Geez. I've been up for eight hours and it's barely eleven." She laughed, "And I only got two hours of sleep before that." 

Tricia sat up and leaned on one hand, looking down at her mother. "Thanks," she smiled. "Hey, mom?"

"Yeah?"

"Where's Grandma? Wasn't she getting coffee?"

"Oh, gosh. Yeah. Come on," Rory hopped up and headed to the door. She opened it and looked out into the hall.

"Hey, hon." Lorelai smiled at her daughter. Rory jumped.

"God, mom! You almost gave me a heart attack," Rory gasped, glaring at her mother.

"Good. Only seven hundred and fifty more before you catch up to me."

Rory rolled her eyes. "Where's the coffee?"

"Umm…"

Rory groaned and then both mother and daughter heard an almost-shriek from Tricia. "What?! Where's the coffee? I need coffee!"

Lorelai stood up and eyed her granddaughter. "Wow, she's good. Better than you," she said, looking at Rory.

Rory pouted. "I thought you said no one was better than me."

Lorelai grinned, "I lied."

****************

**A/N: Thanks for reading and reviewing chapter 15: Alexis, anonymousthinker, Catherine, des, destiny, dodgerluv, Genevah (thank you for all your thanks! I didn't know there were so many ways to say it…), girldevil, gohuskers8604, Jacks246, klm111a, Melissa Larkin, miss.pebbles, Phoebe1912, Pippin3791, Sarah V., starbelly, starshollow, Teea, Tiffany, Tricia, and the one anonymous reviewer.**


	17. Planning

**A/N:** Chapter Seventeen!

Oh, gosh. It has taken me forever to start this chapter. After I wrote the last one, I had major writer's block. Luckily, **miss.pebbles made a suggestion that got me thinking, and so it is incorporated into this chapter. I would like to thank her for such a wonderful idea!**

Have a very Merry (or Happy) Christmas! Or Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Ramadan, Solstice, or whatever you might celebrate, even though I think most of those have already passed. 

I'm posting this at, like, 4:02 CST (my required time is 4-9 CST, 5-10 EST) because tonight there's a Christmas Eve service at my church, and we still have to clean the house. 

Have fun reading…

**Rating:** PG-13

**Pairing:** R/T, R/J

**Disclaimer:** I do not own "Gilmore Girls." That is owned by Amy Sherman-Palladino and the WB. I do, however, own most of this storyline (some was taken from previous episodes), so steal that and I will haunt you for the rest of your life.

****************

Tricia walked into the diner and sat at the counter. Luke was working. 

"Hey, Luke. Whatcha doin'?" She grinned at him.

Luke smiled. "Hey, kid. What does it look like I'm doing? I'm working."

Tricia rolled her eyes. "Yeah, but doesn't Jess usually work?"

Frowning, Luke said quietly, "Jess left the morning of the wedding. He hasn't come back yet." They shared a look. Tricia was a lot more perceptive than she let on, and she knew that Jess loved her mother a lot. Luke knew that, as she'd asked him about it when she'd first noticed. 

"Huh." Luke stifled a grin. She'd picked that up from Jess. It annoyed both her mother and grandmother to no end. "I'm going to the bridge." She stood and left the diner, waving at Luke. She supposed he was her grandfather now, but she'd called him Luke for so long… Well, she'd already thought about this. Several times, in fact. 

Why hadn't her parents gotten married? They almost had… but then her mother had run. They'd just driven, and driven, until they'd reached a hotel. The owner had been very nice, and Tricia had had a nice chat with her about books. They'd spent the night, but then they'd come straight back to Stars Hollow. Her mother and grandmother were at the house, talking most likely. Tricia had decided to see if she could talk to Jess. After he talk with her mother, she'd begun to suspect something, and she wanted to act on her suspicions. 

Tricia arrived at the bridge and sat down. Her mother came here a lot, and she'd brought Tricia with her. They'd often run into Jess here. It was a special place, Rory had once said, one that held a lot of memories. Tricia wondered if they were memories of Jess, or of her father. 

To say the least, Tricia was disappointed that her mother and father had not married. She couldn't remember her father at all, but she'd heard her mother and grandmother speak of him, and she'd seen pictures of him. When he'd come that day in the diner, she hadn't recognized him. But after that, she felt she had grown to know him quite well, and she knew that she loved her father and would miss him in her life. But at the same time, she realized that he'd never been there, and she resented that. 

Tricia suspected that her mother loved Jess. She knew that Jess loved her mother. So maybe what they needed was a push in the right direction. Tricia intended to give them that.

***

Luke watched as Jess strode into the diner. He pounded up the stairs, probably depositing his bag in his room. As the young man walked back down the stairs and headed back out the door, Luke called out to him, "Jess!"

He halted and turned around. "Yeah?"

"Where are you going?"

"Out." 

Luke sighed. No matter how clichéd it was, the saying was true. The more things changed, the more they stayed the same.

***

Jess walked towards the bridge, hands in his pockets, head down. He needed to think. The love of his life was married. She, along with Tricia (whom he admitted he loved like a daughter), were leaving for Boston in five days. At least Tricia was still here. Rory was in Greece somewhere. 

He strode onto the bridge, stopping only when he noticed the small form sitting on its edge. He sat down next to her. "Hey, Tricia."

Her head turned, and she grinned. "Hey, Jess."

"What are you doing out here in the cold, young lady?"

She shrugged nonchalantly. "Thinking."

"You sure you should do so much of it? Might be bad for you."

Tricia laughed, a musical sound that brought a smile to his face. She turned towards him and said, her voice becoming serious. "Can I ask you something?"

"Of course." Jess could never refuse anything that Rory or her daughter asked of him. 

"Why haven't you ever told mom that you love her?"

Jess did a double-take, certain he had heard wrong. "What?"

"I said, why haven't you ever told mom that you love her?"

"Wha… Why…"

Tricia laughed. "I'm not stupid, you know."

Jess sighed. She was smarter than she looked, and apparently a lot more perceptive. "How did you figure it out?"

Tricia rolled her eyes. "Jess, it's obvious. And it's not like I'm the only one that knows. It's obvious to everyone else in town that you love her, except her of course."

Jess tilted his head, looking at Tricia thoughtfully. "Well, I suppose it doesn't really matter anymore, anyway."

"Why not?"

Jess raised an eyebrow and gave her a look that suggested that the answer was obvious. "She just got married. Yesterday."

Tricia gave him a disbelieving look. "No she didn't."

Jess just stared at her. Finally, he said, "What?"

"Mom and dad didn't get married. Grandma Emily was pretty upset…"

"Wait. Why did she not marry Tristan?"

"Mom said that she didn't love him. She mentioned something about a wedding dress, and not trying it on. But I think I know why…" she trailed off, leaning forward and raising her eyebrows.

Jess was intrigued. "Why?"

"Because she's in love with someone else."

Jess' heart dropped. There was someone else. There was always someone else. He sighed, and asked half-heartedly, "Who?"

Tricia smiled at him, as if the answer should be obvious. "You," she said simply.

Jess stared at her, disbelievingly. It couldn't be. Why would it be? She'd said yes to Tristan just four months earlier, and had apparently been going to go through with the wedding as recently as forty-eight hours ago. So why would she love him? No, it couldn't be. It wasn't. And that was final.

***

Tricia walked back towards her house, disappointed. Jess hadn't believed her. It looked like he wanted to, but at the same time, he couldn't. She sighed. She had to talk to her grandmother. 

She walked in the house through the kitchen door and called, "Grandma!"

Lorelai walked in the kitchen and smiled at her granddaughter. "Yes?"

"Can I talk to you? Alone?"

"Sure. Sit down. I'll make coffee." Lorelai grinned and started the preparations. "Where did you go?"

"Well, I went to the diner. I wanted to talk to Jess, but he wasn't there. He left yesterday morning." 

Lorelai's head shot up and she looked at her granddaughter. They both knew, of course. That Jess loved Rory. "Where is he now?"

"I don't know. Probably at the diner. He came to the bridge."

Lorelai raised an eyebrow. "Oh?" She asked innocently.

Tricia smiled. "I tried to talk to him about mom." She looked at Lorelai and continued, softly, "I know that they love each other. I think they should be together."

Lorelai's eyes watered as she looked at her granddaughter. Tricia was such a sweet girl. Lorelai knew she'd been looking forward to her parents getting married, but now, only twenty-four hours after it had failed to happen, she was trying to make her mother happy. It could happen; Lorelai knew it. It reminded her so much of what had happened between her and Luke that it wasn't even funny. She grinned even as she blinked back her tears. "I think that too." Her eyes twinkled mischievously. "Do you think we should help them along?"

Tricia grinned. "Definitely."

****************

**A/N: So what are they going to do??? You'll find out in the next chapter… *grin* Oh, I so cannot wait to write it. Sorry this one was like, half as long as the other. It's kind of transitional. It was fun to write most of it from Tricia's point of view. She's a good kid. **

Thanks for reviewing chapter 14: MaryATroryFan and the one anonymous reviewer.

For chapter 15: MaryATroryFan 

For chapter 16: alexa, blahs, destiny, girldevil, green eyed wonder, kat, klm111a, Melissa Larkin, miss.pebbles, orenjipanda, Tiz-nd-Az, and the one anonymous reviewer


	18. Anything

**A/N:** Chapter Eighteen!

Wow. I had a really hard time starting this chapter. Major writer's block. Which is why I would like to give a REALLY BIG THANK YOU to **dodgerluv, who didn't mind (or at least didn't mention minding) when I asked for help. She gave me some really good ideas, and without her you guys would have gotten an author's note/apology instead of a chapter. So let's all give her a big thank you!**

Hey – has anyone else noticed that my chapters are getting longer? I'm so proud of myself. :D 

**Rating:** PG-13

**Pairing:** R/T, R/J (hmm. should i change that?)

**Disclaimer:** I do not own "Gilmore Girls." That is owned by Amy Sherman-Palladino and the WB. I do, however, own most of this storyline (some was taken from previous episodes), so steal that and I will haunt you for the rest of your life.

****************

Rory walked into the house and sighed, setting down her bag. She'd just stopped by Doose's for some groceries. Not surprisingly, there was nothing edible in the house. Although, that didn't make complete sense, since Luke was now living with them, and he was generally good at keeping the house stocked. Rory shrugged. It was probably because of the wedding. She cringed inwardly. The wedding. 

Lorelai walked in with a smile on her face. She seemed to be hiding something, but Rory brushed it off, too tired to figure it out. "Hey, hon. Back already?"

"Yeah," she smiled tiredly. "I think I'm going to go to bed, 'kay?"

"Sure," Lorelai smiled reassuringly. "I'll take care of Tricia."

Rory smiled gratefully and started walking upstairs. She hit the bed like a brick and was out like a light.

***

Lorelai yawned as she started the coffee. She really needed Luke's, but he'd already gone to the diner, claiming to need to help Jess. She didn't blame him, since Jess really did need help (in more ways than one), but she couldn't go to the diner until Rory was up so that she and Tricia could set their plan in motion.

Tricia jumped into the kitchen, grinning like a … well, Lorelai was too tired to figure out what her granddaughter was grinning like. "Why are you so cheerful?"

Tricia shrugged, pulling out some cereal.

Lorelai glared at her playfully. "It should be a crime to be cheerful this early in the morning."

Tricia just grinned wider. "It's eight, grandma."

Lorelai just rolled her eyes as she set the coffeepot to catch the drips. Sitting down at the table, she stared off into space, waiting for her daughter to come down the stairs.

She didn't have to wait long, as only a few minutes had passed before Rory stumbled down the stairs, sniffing the air. "Coffee…"

Lorelai grinned. "You'll have to put up with mine till we're all dressed. Then we can go to Luke's."

A look that can only be described as sheer panic leapt into Rory's eyes. "No!" she shouted, then, realizing they were staring at her (and that she'd shouted), she repeated, more quietly, "No."

"Why not?" Lorelai asked, giving her daughter a puzzled look.

"Uh…" Rory suddenly realized how strange it was for her to be refusing Luke's coffee. She faked a yawn. "You know what? I think I'll just go back to bed. I'm really tired…" She turned and raced back to her room, leaving two bewildered Gilmores in her wake.

***

"Well, that went well?" Lorelai quipped.

Tricia was still staring off after her mother. "I don't get it. Why wouldn't she want to go to Luke's? Doesn't she want to see Jess? I mean, she loves him, so doesn't she want to see him?"

"She might still be in denial." Lorelai furrowed her brow. "Or they could've had a fight."

Tricia snorted indelicately. "Yeah, right."

Lorelai raised her eyebrows. "Everyone has fights. Luke and I had a fight just a few days ago. He wouldn't give me coffee."

Tricia rolled her eyes. "He never gives you coffee. That doesn't count."

"Fine." Lorelai sat down in her chair and stared at the coffee. Realizing it was done, she got up and poured herself a cup.

"Hey, me too," Tricia got a cup and held it out to her grandmother, who filled it without question.

***

Rory tried to get her breathing under control and think rationally. They had to talk sometime. And wouldn't he think it was weird if she didn't show up with her mother and daughter? Maybe she should just go back downstairs.

No. She didn't know what to tell them, and they were bound to ask. Why wouldn't she go, anyway? She had no idea why she'd reacted the way she had.

Well, she had some idea. She supposed it had to do with the fact that she'd just discovered, less than twenty-four hours earlier, that she loved Jess Mariano. The diner boy. The guy who'd always been there. For her, for her daughter, and even for her mother. He'd never refused anything she'd asked for. Well, except for coffee, she thought with a smile. But that was just the Danes tradition. And Jess was a Danes, even if his last name was Mariano. 

Was that why she'd fallen for him? Rory supposed that was part of it. He'd always been there, like she'd said. Like the time when Tricia had gotten appendicitis. Luke had been busy, Lorelai had been at the inn, so Rory'd gone straight to Jess. And without him, Rory remembered, her eyes clouding, Tricia might have died. Appendicitis was rarely taken seriously, since all they had to do was take it out, and it was a fairly simple procedure – but if they failed to take it out soon enough, the patient could die. Rory had panicked. 

That was another thing. Where had Tristan been through all of that? She'd claimed to love him, and had in fact not had a boyfriend in the eleven years since he'd left and then come back, and yet… There wasn't really a reason for it. It was more like it had been habit or something. Her loving him. Something safe. He wasn't there, which had made it even more safe. 

Loving Jess wasn't safe, not only because he was actually there, but because there was a chance he loved her back as well. And she knew it, as much as she wanted to deny it. Everyone had been telling her for years. Miss Patty, Babette, Tristan – even Taylor had mentioned it. The town had slowly started to lay off of Jess after he'd started cleaning up his act towards the end of junior year. After there wasn't anything to blame him for, then they didn't know what to do, so they'd mostly just ignored him. 

And now, after all this time, she finally understood that it was probably because of her. She frowned. She really didn't have any proof, and it seemed kind of conceited to assume that he loved her enough to change himself. So she pushed those thoughts aside, and started back on her own. 

***

Lorelai picked at her pancakes, peeking a look at her granddaughter before asking quietly, "Any ideas?"

Tricia frowned into her coffee. "No," she replied shortly. Suddenly she brightened. "Luke!" she shouted. 

Luke suddenly materialized by their table. Lorelai gasped. "Don't – do – that." 

Luke smiled at her and looked at Tricia. "Yeah?"

"I'm going to let you in on a secret." Luke raised his eyebrows. "Sit down," Tricia commanded. Luke did as she said, looking at her expectantly. "We want to try and get mom and Jess together."

Luke raised a brow. "And why would we do that?"

"Because mom loves him." Tricia stated it as though it were obvious. Which Luke supposed it was. Just not quite as obvious as Jess' love for Rory. 

"Well… What are you going for?"

"Right now," Lorelai started, taking a sip of her drink – which, surprisingly, was not coffee – "We just want them to talk. Can you believe Rory refused to come here?"

Luke looked at her, dumbfounded. "You're kidding."

Lorelai shook her head emphatically. "Nope. Completely serious. So we think that they need to talk."

"Well," Luke said, slowly. "Why don't you just do the old thing where you," he looked at Tricia, "tell Jess you want to talk to him at the bridge, and you," he turned to Lorelai, "tell Rory to come to the bridge with you, then leave with the excuse that you forgot something, telling her to go on without you." A corner of Luke's mouth lifted slightly. "If you remember, she did the same thing to you when I proposed."

A smile came to Lorelai's face, and her eyes watered as she looked at her husband.

Tricia smiled to herself and slowly got up from the table, intending to go upstairs. The planning could wait a few minutes.

***

Rory sighed, getting out of bed. She needed food. Her stomach growled and she stifled a laugh. Definitely. She walked downstairs and nearly fell over when she saw a picnic basket on the table. Her mother was sitting at the table reading a magazine, but looked up when she heard her daughter come in.

"Hey, kid. How about a picnic?" Lorelai smiled.

"Uh," Rory stumbled, looking for words. "Okay." 

Lorelai smiled and picked up the basket, humming to herself.

***

Meanwhile, Luke handed Jess a note that Tricia had written only hours earlier. "It's from Tricia."

Jess opened it curiously.

_Jess,_

_Could you meet me at the bridge? I need to talk to you._

_Tricia_

Jess stared at the printed words, weighing them in his mind. He should go. He knew he would go. It was Tricia he talking about here. He could never refuse anything she asked for. He had promised himself long ago that he would always be there for Rory and her daughter, no matter what…

_Jess sat in the waiting room nervously with Luke. Lorelai had been admitted to the birthing room only after annoying the doctors till they probably wanted to strangle her. Emily had gone also, although she had gotten in more because of her social skills than being annoying. Tristan was obviously allowed in because of his status as the father. Jess almost screamed at the injustice of it all. He and Luke were relegated to the waiting room, where Luke was wearing a hole in the floor and Jess was working himself bald. _

_There was a short scream which sent both men to their feet, ready to race down the corridor. Luckily for the doctors and nurses, it wasn't repeated. Jess sat back down, and Luke resumed his pacing. After another few minutes, a baby's wail pierced the stillness and quiet, and Jess and Luke raced down the hall, stopping only when they reached Rory's room. They ignored the many people trying to get them to leave and forced their way in, looking at the child cradled in Tristan's arms. _

_Jess' heart clenched at the way that Rory was looking at Tristan and the child. Tristan walked over to her, and held the little baby near her, so she could see it. "It's a girl," Tristan said, his voice shaking slightly. "We have a baby girl."_

_"Yeah, we do." After one more glance at Tristan and the baby, she drifted off. Jess stared at her, then glanced back at the child. He didn't know what had happened between Tristan and Rory, but Jess had never liked the man. He didn't know what the future held in store for any of them, but he vowed, then and there, to make sure he was always there for Rory and the baby. No matter what._

Jess took a deep breath, attempting to smile at his uncle. "I'll just go down to the bridge, okay?"

Luke raised an eyebrow, but nodded anyway. 

Jess grabbed a jacket and headed to the bridge. As he neared it, he noticed that Tricia wasn't there yet, so he sat down, assuming that she'd gone to get something. Suddenly his thoughts were interrupted by a crackle of leaves. He turned his head towards the disturbance. He almost blanched. "Rory?"

***

Almost three-quarters of the way to the bridge, Lorelai smacked her head with her hand. "I can't believe I forgot. Rory, hon, go on to the bridge. I'll be there in a few minutes."

Rory raised her eyebrows, but nodded acquiescingly, taking the offered basket. She headed to the bridge, humming the tune that Lorelai had been humming only moments before. She smiled as she realized it was the one that she and Jess had always joked was 'their song.' They hadn't been a couple, but now, thinking back over the past ten, eleven years, Rory realized they'd acted like it quite a bit.

It was strange, really. The way that they'd done stuff like a couple, but never really been one. It had been eerie, how they'd finished each other's sentences, always known what the other would eat. And at first – for the past however-long-it-had-been, in fact – she'd always just thought it was because they were best friends. And they were. But even Rory and her mother had never known each other so well.

Rory sighed, shaking herself back to reality. She looked at the ground, fresh with fallen leaves that were crunching as she walked. She was almost to the bridge.

"Rory?"

Her head shot up and she stared, her mouth open, at Jess. "What are you doing here?"

"I was just about to ask you the same question."

"Yeah, well, I asked it first."

"Waiting for Tricia." He turned back to the water. "Why don't you sit down?"

"I'm… waiting for my mother." 

"Well, then. Sit down and wait. You can wait sitting down just as easily as you can standing up."

Rory glared at Jess' back. "Fine." She stalked over to within about five feet of him and sat down, setting the basket between them.

After ten minutes of silence, Jess spoke again. "So, what are the bets that we've been set up?"

Rory looked at him, confused. "Huh?"

"Tricia just needed to talk to me at the bridge, right now? And Lorelai just decided to have a picnic at the bridge, right now?" He snorted. "Yeah, right."

"But why…" The color drained from her face. She glanced at him, hoping he hadn't noticed. He had, and was looking at her curiously.

"Yes, why?"

"Uh, I don't know. Could be any reason." Her stomach growled. She scowled. "Well, I'm going to eat." She opened the basket and stared. "Okay, that's it. My mother is officially insane." She showed him the contents. There was a red rose on top, followed by a bucket of something Rory didn't even try to name, and a few other containers that she'd just as soon toss as eat. She pulled everything out, and at the bottom found a letter.

_Hey, kids,_

_You're probably wondering why we did this. Well, we thought you should talk. Jess, you need to tell Rory what you did the morning of her wedding. And Rory, you know what you need to tell him._

_With love and hugs, hoping you come to your senses,_

_Lorelai, Luke, and Tricia_

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**A/N: Thanks for reviewing chapter 17: Alexis, anonymousthinker, destiny, dodgerluv, girldevil, indigo-chica, kinera, klm111a, MaryATroryFan, Melissa Larkin, miss.pebbles, Mysticgrl, nikki, Phoebe1912, Selina,  starshollow, Sugahmuffin, TemptingFate, and Tiffany.**


	19. The Beginning

**A/N:** Chapter Nineteen!

**Warning: There's some making out in this chapter…**

**Rating:** PG-13

**Pairing:** R/T, R/J (hmm. should i change that?)

**Disclaimer:** I do not own "Gilmore Girls." That is owned by Amy Sherman-Palladino and the WB. I do, however, own most of this storyline (some was taken from previous episodes), so steal that and I will haunt you for the rest of your life.

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Rory stared at the note, dumbfounded. Sure, she'd had her suspicions after Jess had told her that they'd probably been set up, but she hadn't really thought that he was serious. Or that he was right. She looked at the note again.

_Hey, kids,_

_You're probably wondering why we did this. Well, we thought you should talk. Jess, you need to tell Rory what you did the morning of her wedding. And Rory, you know what you need to tell him._

_With love and hugs, hoping you come to your senses,_

_Lorelai, Luke, and Tricia_

Yeah, it hadn't changed. _Rory, you know what you need to tell him. What the hell were they talking about? The only thing that she hadn't told Jess was… what she'd just realized tweny-four hours earlier. But they could be talking about __that._

"Rory?" 

Her head shot up. "Yeah?"

"What's the point of the food? I mean, it might look edible, but I learned fourteen years ago not to trust anything that you guys cook up."

She frowned for a minute, trying to figure out what he was talking about. So what about the food? It didn't have a point… Wait. Fourteen years. She thought back to the basket auction. Jess had won the basket. She remembered very clearly that she'd had a few … thoughts she shouldn't have. At least, not when she had a boyfriend. 

But the basket auction… the food. The horrible food that he'd tried to eat. To impress her. He'd even said it, even though he'd said it jokingly. _To impress her._

To impress her.

Oh, God.

***

Jess fought to breathe slowly. He didn't really have to tell her. He didn't have to tell her that he'd left town because he couldn't bear to see her devoting her life to someone who wasn't him. He didn't have to. There was no reason to. Except the note…

_Jess, you need to tell Rory what you did the morning of her wedding._

Yeah, right. Like he'd do that. 

He glanced at Rory and was shocked to find her face void of color. "Rory? Are you alright?"

"Huh?" She looked at him, seeming bewildered to find him there. "Of course." She paused. "Well, actually, I think I need to sit down." She dropped to the bridge, staring out at the water unseeingly. 

Jess wondered what she was thinking about… _Rory, you know what you need to tell him. He wondered what they were talking about. He knew almost every single thing about her, so what could she not have told him?_

Over the years, they'd disclosed almost everything to each other… They'd had plenty of late-night talks when one of them couldn't sleep. It was a given that they'd come straight to the other. So was it any real shock that he'd fallen in love with her? Jess knew Rory almost as well as he knew himself. He only wished that she loved him…

As much as he loved her.

***

Rory stared at the water. She didn't have to tell him. There was no reason to. So what if her mother and Luke had told her to? They didn't control her. But they could make her life a living hell. And they'd know whether or not she'd told him. It wasn't that difficult, she supposed. To tell. Whether she'd told him or not.

She wasn't going to tell him. And that was final.

***

Jess had to ask. He had to know what she needed to tell him, as it was obvious she wasn't going to tell him of her own volition. He took a deep breath.

***

She wasn't going to tell him. No way. Nuh-uh. No way in hell or high water.

"Rory, what does it mean by 'You know what you have to tell him'?" Jess' question jolted her out of her thoughts.  

She panicked. "Oh, I don't know. Maybe they're talking about … uh, I don't know. I don't know what they're talking about." Jess smirked. She frowned. "What about you, what did you do the morning of the wedding?"

"You first. I asked first."

"Yeah, well, I answered you. I don't know. There's no way that you don't know what you did the morning of the wedding. So, tell me. I don't know what could be that bad."

"Yeah, and I don't know what would be so bad that you won't tell me." Their voices were raised dangerously close to yelling at this point. 

Rory took a deep breath, lowering her voice. "Just… Jess…" She swore under her breath, glaring at him. "Just tell me!" She screamed. 

Jess glared right back at her. "Fine! You want to know what I did? I left. I left because I couldn't bear to see you married to that twerp."

Rory just stared at him. He'd left town because he couldn't bear to see her married to Tristan? But that would mean… She gasped. He flushed. 

Rory came to a decision. They were only a foot away, each flushed with anger and, on Jess' part at least, embarrassment. She grabbed him around the neck and kissed him, full on the lips. He didn't respond, and she pulled away. "I'm sorry, I –"

She was silenced when Jess' lips covered hers. One hand came up to cup the back of her head while the other one rested on her back. She felt like she was drowning in a sea of pleasure. Kissing Tristan had never been like this. Sure, it was nice – he had been a bit of a rake before her – but this… this was heaven. There was no other way to describe it. She pulled him closer until his body was flush against hers. She tilted her head up to allow him greater access to her lips, and she parted them. 

His other hand traveled down her spine, leaving tingles in its wake. She moaned in pleasure as his hand reached her hip. As she ran her fingers through his hair she realized she needed air. She pulled away. They were both panting. She grinned. He returned the gesture. 

"Ready to tell me what you're supposed to tell me?"

She smiled. "No… I think we need to get to know each other a little more first."

Jess smirked. "Rory, we've known each other for almost fifteen years, and been best friends for at least eleven of them, good friends for almost all that time. There's not much else we need to know."

"I suppose you're right… And I know that they'll grill you pretty well. I don't know what'll happen if I decide not to tell you, so…" She paused, taking a deep breath. "I love you, Jess. Not like a friend. I love you like I thought I loved Tristan, only this… it's better. Deeper. Stronger." She smiled at him. He looked shell-shocked. 

"I – I…" Jess couldn't complete his sentence. He tried again. "I love you, Rory. I didn't think I'd ever be able to tell you." He grinned. "I love you so much." He leaned down to capture her lips again for another kiss, knowing that, at last, he'd found his ever-after. 

****************

**A/N: That was corny, wasn't it? I'm sorry. It's almost impossible to do the 'I love you' scene without getting that way. I think I might have moved too fast, but there really wasn't anything else to do. Unless you all want more, I think that's the end. **

**Okay – this is as of ****six o'clock CST**** (as in, I reposted it at that time). I've decided that this is the last CHAPTER, yes, but there is an epilogue that will be posted on the 30th, as planned, but then the next day – New Year's Eve! – I will put up my post-story author's note, which will include thank-yous to everyone who reviewed this chapter and the epilogue, as well as a lot of reminiscing on my part. **

Thanks for reviewing chapter 18: Alexis, anonymousthinker, destiny, indigo-chica, Je$$I$a}{0++Ie, klm111a, lala, MaryATroryFan, Melissa Larkin, miss.pebbles, Mysticgrl, Pippin3791, rgilmore03, SugahMuffin, TemptingFate


	20. Epilogue: Forever

**A/N: This is it. The end. *bawls* I'm sorry… *sniff* This is really difficult.  I almost cried while writing it… I think it's really touching. I know I said that the last chapter would be the end (well, for those of you who saw it before I reposted), but I got this idea, and I just couldn't let it go. (Oh, and there will be a post-story author's note up tomorrow.) This is a letter to Rory from Jess…**

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_Saturday, November 28, 2026___

_Dear Rory,_

_I'm sitting here at the desk, and I don't know what to say. I miss you. I'm glad that you've got this once in a lifetime opportunity, but that doesn't mean I can't miss you. I mean, we're talking about prime-time TV here… and if you make it, we'll move. And I know you'll make it, because I believe in you so much. _

_I'm thinking back to the first time I met you. It was at your house. Luke and I were going to dinner there. Sookie was acting insane as usual with the food… And then I saw you. You were, simply put, an angel. I thought I'd stumbled into a dream. But, no offense, that'd happened before. It was when I saw your books that I fell. I wouldn't have admitted it then, if I'd even realized it, but I fell in love with you right then. It deepened over time, as I got to know you better. _

_I remember Tricia's birth. I wasn't there with you. I wish I had been. But at that point, you were still in love with him – and Tricia WAS his daughter. But that doesn't mean that I wish I could have. With Tricia it was definitely love-at-first-sight. She was so tiny, and so cute… it was amazing. I never told you, but I promised myself right then that I would always be there for both of you. I don't think I've ever broken that promise, and I hope I never do._

_Emily and Liz's birth is another one of the highlights of my life… I'm very grateful that this time I could be with you. They're here now, of course, sleeping in the next room. I had no idea that nine-year-olds could be so cute. _

_Tricia called. She says that graduate school is harder than she thought. I know that you're proud of her for getting into Yale. I am too… She said that she hasn't worked up the courage to call Tristan yet. She said she doesn't know if she ever will, but that it's okay because she knows who her real father is… it brought tears to my eyes when she said that. I love that kid…_

_I'll be forever grateful to Luke, Lorelai, and Tricia for making us talk to each other. I'm also glad that you had the courage to tell me that you loved me, because I don't think that I ever would have been able to. I was too afraid of rejection. I'd lived with the secret for more than fourteen years – there didn't seem to be any reason to stop then. _

_The day before your wedding to Tristan, you told me you loved me. I knew that you only meant as friends, but I said it back, anyway. But after you left, I whispered something that has haunted my mind ever since… "More than you will ever know." And even though you know now, I think the statement still holds true. You will never know how much I love you. I don't even know how much I love you. I think I do, and then something happens, and my love grows. I think that's the best thing about loving you: it always changes. It doesn't stay the same – it grows, changes, and yet is always there. _

_Rory, I love you more than you or I will ever know or comprehend. You are my soul mate, the reason I live, and the light of my life. _

_Forever loving you,_

_Jess _


End file.
